August 6, 2008
Wednesday: China soybean futures settle higher on rebound after tumble
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly higher Wednesday, rebounding from a sharp recent fall.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB44 higher at RMB4,088/tonne, or up 1.1%, after trading between a wide range of RMB4,003-RMB4,132/tonne.
The benchmark soybean contract opened lower, but jumped into positive territory right after the opening and managed to stay there for the rest of the session.
Many long positions had to be liquidated due to insufficient margins for trading, so selling momentum should ease, analysts said.
Open interest in soybean contracts fell 134,954 lots to 488,342 lots Wednesday, after falling 87,624 lots Tuesday.
"However, the resistance remains, and the market is likely to consolidate for a while," said a local edible oil trader.
The China National Grain and Oils Information Center raised its 2008 output forecasts for soybeans, corn and rice in its monthly report, released Wednesday.
The government think tank increased its soybean output estimate by 1 million metric tonnes to 17.5 million tonnes and hiked its corn output estimate by 2 million tonnes to 156 million tonnes.
Expectations of ample supply have been weighing on the domestic market recently.
Soyoil futures, palm oil futures and corn futures settled mostly higher, while soymeal futures settled mostly lower.
Soyoil and palm oil futures slumped to their lowest levels this year during the recent tumble.
Wednesday's settlement prices in yuan per metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Jan 2009 4,088 Up 44 1,530,350
Corn Jan 2009 1,783 Up 13 343,820
Soymeal Jan 2009 3,347 Dn 25 1,158,502
Palm Oil Jan 2009 7,900 Up 102 33,560
Soyoil Jan 2009 9,046 Up 110 407,210
