December 19, 2007

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle down on CBOT losses

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday on losses in the Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures overnight.

 

The benchmark September 2008 soybean contract fell RMB3 to settle at RMB4,443 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB4,419/tonne and RMB4,461/tonne.

 

"Concerns about the government measures to tame prices will continue to affect sentiment, but if CBOT soybean climbs further, domestic futures will follow," said Xu Yulan, an analyst at Yong'an Futures.

 

"Meanwhile, as the outlook of CBOT soybean futures isn't clear, investors remain cautious," Xu said.

 

Analysts said as China relies heavily on soybean imports, CBOT trends are still critical to domestic prices, despite the government's effort to calm rising grain prices.

 

Corn futures settled mostly a tad lower.

 

Cash prices were mostly unchanged in the week to Wednesday, as traders and consumers stayed on the sidelines, expecting stable prices in the short term, traders said.

 

In Tuesday's government auctions, nearly 30% of the planned 500,000 tonnes were sold, with an average price of RMB1,758/tonne.

 

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

 

                Contract       Price      Change     Volume

Soybeans  Sep 2008      4,443      Dn  3       548,176

Soymeal   Sep 2008      3,303      Dn  25   1,419,596

Soyoil       May 2008      9,722      Up  50     150,554

Corn         May 2008      1,725      Dn  6      336,672

Palm Oil    May 2008      8,726      Dn  4       23,400