September 10, 2007

 

Monday: China soybean futures settle up on CBOT, output forecast cut

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, following the sharp rise at the Chicago Board of Trade Friday.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soybean contract settled RMB64 higher at RMB3,961 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 691,200 lots from 694,686 lots Friday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

The possible decline in soybean output, due to a drought in northeast China during the past two months, also helped push prices higher.

 

The China National Grain and Oils Information Center cut its 2007 soybean output forecast to 14.4 million tonnes in its monthly report issued Monday.

 

This follows a cut last month to 14.8 million tonnes from 15 million tonnes.

 

The market is also watching for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest crop report on production, yield and supply and demand, scheduled to be released Wednesday at 1230 GMT.

 

Although the average of analysts' estimates pegged 2007 soybean production at 2.650 billion bushels, up from the August figure of 2.625 billion, increasing demand will likely help support the market, said Zeng Xuezhou, an analyst at Beite Futures Co.

 

Soymeal futures and soyoil futures settled mostly higher.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB61 higher at RMB3,142/tonne, and the benchmark January 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB166 higher at RMB8,166/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled higher on spill-over effects from soybeans and wheat.

 

The benchmark May 2008 contract settled RMB20 higher at RMB1,672/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 740,040 lots from 620,388 lots Friday.