September 25, 2008

     

Thursday: China soybean futures settle mixed; cashing in before holiday
     

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mixed Thursday, as traders were cautious ahead of a long holiday.

 

The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB9 higher at RMB4,029 a metric tonne after trading in a range of RMB3,997-RMB4,055/tonne.

 

The contract opened lower but managed to move into positive territory soon after that, staying there for most of the session.

 

Short position holders were cashing in ahead of the long holiday as their profits have been pretty big, said Wang Hongbo, an analyst at Sun Futures Co.

 

China's financial markets will be closed from Sept. 29 through Oct. 5 for the National Day holiday.

 

Soybean prices are at a reasonable level after a recent fall amid falling soybean import costs and the ongoing harvest, and RMB3,800 could be a strong support level, said Wang.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release an updated report on its agricultural crop output estimate in October, which will give the market clearer guidance on price direction.

 

Analysts said supply will remain tight in the 2008-09 crop year, which will limit the downside for soybean prices on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

"The fall caused by financial storms is coming to an end, and supply and demand (factors) will come back to decide (market movement)," said Ma Fakai, an analyst at Huixin Futures Co.

 

Open interest in all soybean contracts fell 59,122 lots to 394,318 lots Thursday.

 

Corn futures and soymeal futures settled mostly little changed, while soyoil futures and palm oil futures settled mixed. But the benchmark January palm oil contract settled sharply higher.

 

Thursday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and the volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

           

Contract           Settlement           Price          Change        Volume

Soybeans          Jan 2009            4,029            Up 9        1,231,390

Corn                May 2009            1,766            Unch          150,892

Soymeal           Jan 2009            3,447             Unch          649,302

Palm Oil            Jan 2009            6,482           Up  152        235,370

Soyoil               Jan 2009            8,172           Up   16         820,376