September 15, 2006
Friday: China soybean futures settle down on profit-taking
Soybean futures traded on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday on profit-taking amid weak market sentiment, analysts said.
The most active January 2007 contract settled RMB4 lower at RMB2,552 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,548 and RMB2,560/tonne.
Total trading volume dropped to 17,908 lots from 49,426 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.
"Soybean futures fell on profit-taking after days of gains," said Zhang Yifan, an analyst at China Grain & Oils Group Feed Corp.
"Market sentiment was cautious before the new harvest of soybeans," said Liu Xinghua, an analyst at Great Wall Futures Co.
No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled higher. But the benchmark September contract was unchanged.
Soymeal futures settled lower. The benchmark January 2007 contract fell RMB4 to settle at RMB2,227/tonne, after trading between RMB2,222 and RMB2,234/tonne.
Total trading volume for soymeal fell to 99,494 lots from 122,878 lots Thursday.
"The rebound on the Chicago Board of Trade was not as strong as expected, weighing on investors' bullishness," Zhang said.
"Retreats in metal futures today pressured soymeal futures in a spillover effect," Liu said.
Soyoil settled lower. The most widely held January 2007 contract declined RMB22 to settle at RMB5,635/tonne.
"Now soyoil futures are very sensitive to oil prices. Today's losses were largely a response to declines in crude oil prices in the international market," Zhang said.
Corn futures settled mostly down. But the benchmark May 2007 contract settled at RMB1,414/tonne, up RMB1/tonne.
Total trading volume for corn rose to 354,980 lots from 280,332 lots Thursday.
"Corn prices held stable in the spot market this week, with small pickups in some regions. Investors continued to build up positions, indicating their bullishness on corn," added Zhang.
