October 19, 2007

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle up on CBOT rally; soyoil higher

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Friday on gains at the Chicago Board of Trade overnight and strong soyoil prices.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soybean contract settled RMB53 higher at RMB4,275 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume fell to 912,338 lots from 958,504 lots Thursday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

The fundamentals for soybean futures remain good on a reduction in global soybean output, the recovery of domestic feedmeal sector and good liquidity.

 

However, once the soybean output cut becomes a fact, market focus will be switched to factors including increased soybean supply during the harvest season, said traders.

 

There will be higher risks for investors as the soybean futures have gone beyond RMB4,000/tonne, said China Grain Network.

 

Looking forward, the 2008 new soybean acreage in South America will have a great impact on soybean futures, with market expectations for the acreage increase ranging between 5%-8% from this year, it added.

 

Soymeal futures settled and soyoil futures settled sharply higher.

 

The benchmark May 2008 soymeal contract settled RMB49 higher at RMB3,281/tonne, and the benchmark May 2008 soyoil contract settled RMB108 higher at RMB8,734/tonne.

 

Rising demand ahead of the year-end festivals, including Christmas and the New Year, will greatly push up the demand for vegetable oil, helping to drive the prices higher, said Heilongjiang Jiusan Oil and Fat Co. on its Web site.

 

Increasing crude oil prices are another strong base that have supported soyoil prices at high levels.

 

Corn futures settled mostly a tad higher.

 

The benchmark May 2008 contract settled RMB16 higher at RMB1,659/tonne.

 

Total trading volume for all corn futures fell to 408,096 lots from 464,374 lots Thursday.