December 6, 2007

Thursday: China soybean futures lower, tracking CBOT soybean futures

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Thursday, tracking losses in Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures resulting from weakness in crude oil.

At 0741 GMT, the January CBOT soybean contract was trading 8.4 cents lower at $10.91/bushel.

In Dalian, the September 2008 soybean contract settled RMB33 lower at RMB4,289/tonne.

China's soybean futures may also have begun to feel the pressure of heavy imports by Chinese traders over the past several weeks. State-run and private companies have been importing huge amounts of soybean in a bid to calm rising edible oil prices in China.

Corn futures also ended lower as the National Development and Reform Commission Wednesday said it is seeking to tightly control the rapid expansion of industrial processing of corn and exports to check growing demand.

Thursday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots:

                Contract        Price      Change     Volume
Soybeans  Sep 2008      4,289      Dn  33      607,928
Soymeal   May 2008      3,274      Up  31    1,268,370
Soyoil       May 2008      9,292      Dn  86      109,874
Corn         May 2008      1,746      Dn  15      677,680
Palm Oil    May 2008      8,508      Dn  52       19,870