October 17, 2007

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle down; CBOT fall prompts profit-taking

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday, as the retreat in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures overnight triggered profit-taking.

 

Analysts said that given the recent strong gains in China soybean futures, a consolidatory period could emerge.

 

The most widely-held May 2008 soybean contract fell 1% to settle at RMB4,213 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB4,172/tonne and RMB4,235/tonne.

 

Total trading volume fell to 860,256 lots from 865,204 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

"Given the strong gains recently, soybean futures may need to consolidate for a while, along with CBOT soybean futures," said an analyst in Beijing.

 

The benchmark contract is likely to stay in the range of RMB3,900-RMB4,200/tonne, said the analyst.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures settled mostly lower, weighed by losses in soybean futures.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soymeal contract fell RMB27 to settle at RMB3,224/tonne. The benchmark May 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB14 lower at RMB8,684/tonne.

 

Traders said although cash values of soymeal and soyoil remained high, buying activity has been slowing down.

 

Corn futures settled slightly lower, a spillover effect from soybean futures.

 

The benchmark May 2008 contract fell RMB10 to settle at RMB1,651/tonne.

 

"The spot market's been quiet in the past week, and market focus is now on the production this year, and whether it will be higher or lower than last year's," said Liu Gang, corn analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co., an agricultural commodities information provider.