September 7, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle mostly up; sentiment upbeat

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly higher Friday on speculative buying due to anticipation of lower output.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soybean contract settled RMB24 higher at RMB3,897 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB3,865/tonne and RMB3,927/tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 694,686 lots from 420,568 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"The expectation of lower output this year continues to be the major support for prices," said Gao Yanrong, an analyst with Dalu Futures Co.

 

Strong demand for feedmeal and high wheat prices also support and will keep soybean prices at relatively high levels, Gao said.

 

There were no fresh news during the day, but overall bullish sentiment in agricultural commodities drove prices higher, said Zhang Yifan, a trader with China Grains & Oils Group Feed Corp.

 

Soymeal futures also settled mostly higher, supported by rising demand for feedmeals. The benchmark May 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB15 higher at RMB3,081/tonne.

 

Soyoil futures settled mostly lower. The benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB4 lower at RMB8,000/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled higher on spillover strength from soy futures, analysts said.

 

"Fundamentally, it should have gone down, but given the strength in soybean futures, it may lack the momentum to fall much," said Gao said.

 

The benchmark May 2008 contract settled RMB19 higher at RMB1,652/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 620,388 lots from 604,748 lots Thursday.