May 12, 2009
Tuesday: China soy futures settle up; market digests swine flu concerns
Soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Tuesday, along with a rebound in soymeal prices as market participants digested news of the confirmation of China's first case of flu caused by the A/H1N1 virus.
The benchmark January 2010 soy contract settled RMB27 a tonne higher at RMB3,471/tonne, up 0.8%.
Soy contracts could consolidate in the near term as market looks for cues from other financial markets amid relatively upbeat sentiment toward the outlook for the global economy, analysts said.
"Right now, macroeconomic factors will likely have more impact on soy and other commodities prices than their own fundamentals," said Wang Xiaoguan, an analyst with Galaxy Futures.
Soymeal's rise on the exchange indicated that concerns related to the first confirmed case in China of the disease initially known as swine flu have been digested by investors, analysts said. The A/H1N1 virus is spread by humans, not by pigs or consumption of pork.
Local soymeal prices will depend mainly on Chicago Board of Trade soy prices, analysts said.
CBOT soy prices have been supported by expectations that global supply will remain tight. The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its May supply and demand report at 1230 GMT Tuesday.
Trading volume for all soy contracts declined to 163,702 lots from 269,056 lots Monday.
Open interest decreased 7,808 lots to 333,392 lots.
Corn futures settled almost flat, while soymeal, soyoil and palm oil futures settled higher.
Tuesday's settlement prices in yuan a tonne for benchmark contracts and volumes for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soy Jan 2010 3,471 Up 27 147,968
Corn Sep 2009 1,659 Up 1 24,928
Soymeal Sep 2009 2,777 Up 26 756,186
Palm Oil Sep 2009 6,890 Up 78 506,134
Soyoil Sep 2009 7,652 Up 82 1,373,972
