February 20, 2006
Monday: China soybean futures mostly higher on CBOT; corn down
Soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday following Friday's strong technical buying on the Chicago Board of Trade, analysts said.
The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract opened higher and moved in a narrow range throughout the session, settling up RMB18 at RMB2,780 a metric tonne.
Total trading volume for soybean futures on the Dalian exchange fell to 101,364 lots from 169,780 lots Friday. One lot equals 10 tonnes.
"As CBOT is closed Monday, local speculators are making good use of Friday's gains to get some quick money," said Zhang Yifan, an analyst with China Grains & Oils Group Feed Co.
Zhang added, however, that rains in South America, which went against earlier weather forecasts, and concerns over more bird flu cases in different parts of the world reported recently are likely to cap the uptrend.
"The weather in South America in the next few days is critical to local futures, in the absence of other news," Zhang said.
Soymeal futures mostly settled higher, tracking soybean futures.
The benchmark September 2006 soymeal contract settled RMB20 higher at RMB2,420/tonne, after trading between RMB2,409 and RMB2,446/tonne.
Total trading volume for soymeal futures fell to 549,370 lots from 621,148 lots Friday.
Soyoil futures settled higher as well, with the benchmark September 2006 soyoil contract rising RMB39 to RMB5,167/tonne, after trading between RMB5,148/tonne and RMB5,196/tonne.
Dalian's No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mostly higher.
The benchmark September 2006 No. 2 soybean contract settled RMB30 higher at RMB2,650/tonne.
Corn futures settled mostly lower, however. The benchmark September 2006 contract fell RMB6 to settle at RMB1,480/tonne, on light short selling.
"Corn (futures) prices are already at a high level, and it's not surprising to see a short-term downward correction," Zhang said.
