July 11, 2008
Friday: China soybean futures settle up; positive USDA report awaited
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Friday on expectations of a favorable U.S. Department of Agriculture report tonight.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB55 higher at RMB5,001 a metric tonne, or up 1.1%, after trading in the RMB4,955-RMB5,059/tonne range.
The USDA is scheduled to release its July supply and demand report Friday at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and analysts expect the report to be favorable to the market.
The average of analysts' estimates for 2007-08 ending stocks is 123 million bushels, down slightly from the USDA's June estimate of 125 million, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 11 analysts.
The average of analysts' estimates for 2008-09 soybean carryout is 139 million bushels, down from the USDA's June estimate of 175 million, according to a survey of 13 analysts.
Corn futures settled higher, with the benchmark January 2009 contract suddenly surging in the afternoon session and hitting limit-up briefly, before falling back within a few minutes.
Some analysts said this was due to some short covering, as short position holders were cashing in.
The rising transportation fees due to the higher prices of oil products and the improved demand in the southern consumption season helped support corn prices, said Gao Yanrong, an analyst at Dalu Futures Co.
China's major corn producing areas are in the northern part of the country.
Soybean oil, palm oil futures and soybean meal futures all settled higher.
Friday'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 5,001 Up 55 876,990
Corn Jan 2009 1,897 Up 19 1,349,900
Soymeal Jan 2009 4,010 Up 34 1,225,006
Palm Oil Sep 2008 10,502 Up 40 12,446
Soyoil Jan 2009 11,692 Up 152 128,324