August 29, 2008

 

Friday: China soybean futures settle mixed; crude, CBOT fall weigh
    

 

China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mixed Friday tracking a fall in crude oil prices and on the Chicago Board of Trade overnight.

 

The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB8 lower at RMB4,263 a metric tonne, or down 0.2%, after trading in a RMB4,224-RMB4,298/tonne range.

 

The benchmark contract opened lower and remained in negative territory for most of the morning session, but managed to break through into positive territory in the afternoon.

 

"The commodities market now is mostly affected by the crude oil prices," as the influence of weather factors has waned with the approach of the harvest season," said a local analyst.

 

A drought in some areas of the major soybean producing province of Heilongjiang will affect soybean and corn growth there, but total output this year will be higher than last year.

 

The drought since early August "will definitely result in a unit yield decline (compared with normal years)," said a grain official in the Heilongjiang Grain Bureau, who declined to be named.

 

However, total soybean and corn output is expected to be higher than last year due to increased acreage, said the official

 

Prior to the drought, the bureau had expected soybean output in the province in 2008 would reach 7.5 million tonnes, up from 4.9 million tonnes last year, while corn output had been projected at 17 million tonnes, up from 15.85 million tonnes in 2007.

 

Meanwhile, concerns of early frost before September also helped support prices somewhat amid a weak sentiment.

 

Soybean oil, palm oil and corn futures settled mostly higher, while soybean meal futures settled mostly lower.

 

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               4,263               Dn   8            862,928

Corn                      Jan 2009               1,747               Up   1            250,948

Soymeal                 Jan 2009               3,638              Dn  17            712,068

Palm Oil                  Jan 2009               7,310              Up 130             78,124

Soyoil                     Jan 2009               9,120              Up 118            742,434