September 5, 2007

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle lower on profit-taking

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly lower Wednesday as traders were taking profits after the recent strong rise.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soybean contract settled RMB5 lower at RMB3,879 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 754,296 lots from 868,592 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

Traders will likely stay on sidelines in the short term or sell in small amounts, and soybean futures may meet strong resistance at Tuesday's highs, said Yide Futures Brokerage Co.

 

The benchmark May contract was trading between RMB3,830/tonne and RMB3,931/tonne Tuesday.

 

Whether domestic soybeans can regain their strength depends on the performance of their counterparts at the Chicago Board of Trade, it added.

 

But Shanghai JCI said strong fundamentals will help to support soybean futures overall.

 

Some analysts expected domestic soybean cash prices to reach RMB3,800/tonne this year from current RMB3,300-RMB3,400/tonne due to a reduction in output, a result of the worst-ever drought in some regions in northeast China.

 

Soymeal futures and soyoil futures settled mostly lower.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB16 lower at RMB3,064/tonne, and the benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract also settled RMB16 lower at RMB8,030/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled mostly lower.

 

The benchmark May 2008 contract settled RMB16 lower at RMB1,637/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 666,380 lots from 920,678 lots Tuesday.