September 29, 2008

 

China soy prices unchanged; some processing plants buy, support

   

 

China's soy prices in major producing areas were stable in the week to Friday, as processing plants mostly stayed on the sidelines, awaiting the harvest season.

 

Soy prices in Jixian, Heilongjiang, the biggest producing province, were between RMB4,060-RMB4,080 a tonne, stable from a week ago.

 

Prices in Mudanjiang in the same province were around RMB4,000/tonne, also unchanged.

 

There were scattered new soy entering the market, but large volumes won't arrive until next month.

 

Some purchases by soy processing plants, in preparation for the restart of operations, helped to support prices, said Yu Haifeng, an analyst at Tianqi Futures.

 

Analysts expected new soy prices will be RMB3,600-RMB3,900/tonne, up from RMB3,400/tonne last year, on higher input costs.

 

Soyoil prices were higher, tracking a surge on the futures market earlier this week.

 

Prices of first-grade soyoil in Rizhao city in Shandong province were RMB8,500-RMB8,700/tonne, compared with RMB8,300-RMB8,700/tonne a week ago.

 

In Dongguan city in Guangdong province, soyoil prices were RMB8,500-RMB8,750/tonne compared with RMB8,300-RMB8,700/tonne a week ago.

 

The global financial crisis is in focus and the commodities market will only stabilize once financial woes are behind us, Heilongjiang Jiu San Oil and Fat Co. said in a note.

 

Meanwhile, demand is unlikely to pick up substantively any time soon, it said.

 

Soymeal prices were slightly higher, boosted by the futures market surge.

 

Soymeal prices in Rizhao were RMB3,750-RMB3,850/tonne, slightly higher than RMB3,710-RMB3,780/tonne a week ago.

 

In Dongguan city, they were RMB3,740-RMB3,800/tonne compared with RMB3,700- RMB3,800/tonne a week ago.

 

Pre-holiday stockpiling and a mild recovery in feedmeal sales also helped support soymeal prices, analysts said.