September 9, 2003

China Soybean Futures Settle Mostly Up; Tight Imports A Concern

China's Dalian Commodity Exchange soybean futures settled mostly higher Tuesday, as slower imports in some Chinese provinces continued to reinforce buying in the futures market, traders said.

A trader at Zhejiang Tianma Futures said market participants had heard from port sources that soybean processors in the northern provinces of Shandong and Liaoning were experiencing tight supply, as imports had slowed following a recent increase in soybean prices in the U.S. spot market.

But Tuesday's buying in the futures market was less aggressive than Monday's because some players chose to wait on the sidelines, as most contracts have been rising since late last week.

In the afternoon session, profit takers pressured the nearby September 2003 contract lower from Monday's settlement to 2,514 yuan ($1=CNY8.28) a metric ton. The January 2005 contract also posted losses in thin volume.

The other seven soybean contracts traded in Dalian rose by CNY4-CNY14/ton, with the most heavily traded January 2004 contract gaining CNY11/ton to CNY2,547/ton.

Dalian's soymeal futures settled evenly mixed as technical selling following three consecutive days of sharp rises erased gains for some contracts.

But the benchmark January 2004 soymeal contract settled CNY6/ton higher at CNY2,204/ton, after trading between CNY2,184-CNY2,226/ton.