July 9, 2008
Wednesday: China soybean futures settle up; fundamentals seen unchanged
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange reversed losses Wednesday on expectations of supplies lagging demand even as weather forecasts in producing areas in the U.S. improved.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB30 higher at RMB4,950/tonne, or up 0.6%.
The recent fall prompted some to buy, with long position holders expecting the fall to be brief, and weather in the U.S. soybean producing areas remaining in focus ahead of the harvest.
The benchmark contract opened higher, but trimmed the gains in later session, pressured by falling soymeal cash prices and weak soyoil cash prices.
Soymeal cash prices in many areas have fallen by more than RMB100/tonne this week as feedmeal companies stayed on sidelines on record high prices.
Good weather in the U.S., a stronger dollar and the drop in crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange overnight helped lessen the upward momentum in soybean prices, said Cui Ruijuan, an analyst at Guangfa Futures Brokerage.
Soyoil futures, palm oil futures, and soymeal futures settled higher, while corn futures settled slightly lower.
Although the cash corn stock is tight, corn stock at the DCE is at a historical high, said Li Dongji, an analyst at Guotai Junan Futures Co.
Wednesday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Jan 2009 4,950 Up 30 575,466
Corn Jan 2009 1,881 Dn 2 276,606
Soymeal Jan 2009 3,945 Up 14 1,367,222
Palm Oil Sep 2008 10,488 Up 46 23,618
Soyoil Jan 2009 11,604 Up 90 103,002