Wednesday: China soy futures tad up; USDA report to provide guidance

 

 

China's soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled slightly higher Wednesday, as traders waited for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue its supply and demand report later in the day.

 

The benchmark September 2010 soy contract settled marginally higher at RMB3,842 a metric tonne.

 

The contract opened slightly lower, tracking Chicago Board of Trade prices overnight, but it then rose into positive territory, where it consolidated for most of the session.

 

Without clear trading guidance before the report is issued, traders were reluctant to act aggressively, analysts said.

 

The contract traded within a tight RMB3,834-RMB3,852 range.

 

Although the USDA is expected to lower its estimates for 2009 soy ending stocks and output, analysts said the price-positive impact could be limited, as the expected record harvest in South America and planting area in the U.S. later this spring will contribute to determining prices in the medium term.

 

Trading volume of all soy contracts declined to 134,932 lots from 229,248 lots Tuesday.

 

Open interest fell by 1,930 lots to 365,254 lots Wednesday.

 

Corn, soyoil and palm oil futures settled slightly higher, while soymeal futures settled slightly lower.

 

Following are Wednesday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

 

              Contract   Settlement Price  Change     Volume

Soy         Sep 2010      3,842        Up    2    134,932

Corn       Sep 2010      1,871        Up    2     36,384

Soymeal  Sep 2010      2,789        Dn    3    469,850

Palm Oil  Sep 2010      7,058        Up    4    527,854

Soyoil     Sep 2010      7,588        Up   34    536,182