Monday: China soy futures settle up, following gains on CBOT

 

 

Soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, following gains Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark September 2010 soy contract settled up RMB22, or 0.6%, at RMB3,867 a metric tonne.

 

The dollar's weakness Friday and a strike by port workers in Argentina, which will slow soy exports, both helped to support futures prices, analysts said.

 

Relatively strong performances Monday in other markets, such as metals, also helped to support sentiment towards agricultural products.

 

However, trading remained cautious in a tight RMB23/tonne range ahead of a U.S. Department of Agriculture report to be issued Wednesday, which will give initial forecasts for acreage of major crops.

 

Cash soy prices were slightly lower in very light trading, providing little trading guidance for futures.

 

Trading volume of all soy contracts declined to 119,370 lots from 152,900 lots Friday.

 

Open interest fell 4,270 lots to 341,862 lots Monday.

 

Futures for corn, soyoil, soymeal and palm oil all settled higher.

 

Following are Monday'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      3,867        Up   22    119,370

Corn       Sep 2010      1,930        Up   15    113,450

Soymeal  Sep 2010      2,828        Up   23    572,742

Palm Oil  Sep 2010      6,886        Up   28    223,370

Soyoil     Sep 2010      7,498        Up   22    250,110