May 28, 2007

 

Monday: China soybean futures settle up; imports likely lower in june

 

 

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

 

Traders said falling soybean imports may also be supporting prices.

 

The new benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled RMB27 higher at RMB3,380 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume declined to 334,146 lots from 376,088 lots Friday. One lot equals 10 tonnes.

 

China's soybean imports in June are expected to be around 2.1 million tonnes, compared with possibly around 2.9 million tonnes in May, said Li Yang, an analyst at Yongan Futures. Li said some processing plants stopped production due to overhauls.

 

China imported 2.65 million tonnes of soybean in April, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

 

Soymeal contracts settled mixed, but soyoil futures settled higher.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soymeal contract settled RMB2 lower at RMB2,617/tonne, while the benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB216 higher at RMB7,792/tonne.

 

The large amount of soymeal stocks due to the slow recovery of the feedmeal sector put pressure on futures contracts.

 

Soyoil contracts were supported by bullish Malaysian soyoil futures, which rose on increasing biofuel demand.

 

Corn futures settled higher. The benchmark September 2007 contract settled RMB2 higher at RMB1,673/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts declined to 137,156 lots from 153,638 lots Friday.