September 12, 2006

 

Tuesday: China soybean futures settle mostly down on CBOT losses

 

 

Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Tuesday, pressured by overnight losses on the Chicago Board of Trade, an analyst said.

 

The most active January 2007 contract settled RMB13 lower at RMB2,543 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,535/tonne and RMB2,553/tonne.

 

Total trading volume fell to 16,462 lots from 39,120 lots Monday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Soybean futures prices dropped, tracking CBOT losses," said Zeng Xuezhou, an analyst at Beite Futures Co.

 

"Futures prices will hold at the current level, with small fluctuations in coming weeks," he added.

 

No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mostly higher. But the benchmark September contract settled unchanged.

 

Soymeal futures settled mostly lower. The benchmark January 2007 contract dropped RMB10/tonne to settle at RMB2,218/tonne, after trading between RMB2,211/tonne and RMB2,227/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for soymeal dropped to 129,228 lots from 184,684 lots Monday.

 

"Although demand has started to pick up, the oversupply that has shown no signs of easing is still weighing on investors' confidence," Zeng said.

 

Soyoil settled higher. The most widely held January 2007 contract increased RMB13 to settle at RMB5,666/tonne.

 

"Demand for soyoil is expected to pick up in the fall, providing support to futures," Zeng said.

 

Corn futures settled mostly lower. The benchmark May 2007 contract settled at RMB1,406/tonne, down RMB10/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for corn fell to 203,840 lots from 348,204 lots Monday.

 

"Corn futures opened lower and rose a little bit in the late session on short covering," Zeng said.

 

"Corn prices are holding stable on the spot market, with demand rising steadily. Prices for the new harvest of corn that has come to the market in the southern provinces are relatively high. Futures may post a strong rebound in the near future," he added.