October 31, 2008

                       

Friday: China soybean futures settle lower, along with CBOT fall

                          

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday, tracking losses on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 

The benchmark May 2009 soybean contract settled RMB56 lower at RMB3,324 a metric tonne.

 

A fall in crude oil prices during Asian trading also pressured soybeans.

 

If there is no government policy to boost prices, soybean prices are likely to fall further, said Li Dongji, an analyst at Guotai Jun'an Futures Brokerage.

 

He expects RMB3,000-RMB3,100/tonne to be a reasonable support level for soybeans.

 

Soybean cash prices were somewhat supported by government purchases in major producing areas this week.

 

But buying interest for local soybeans was thin, damped by falling import prices, which are lower than domestic ones, said traders.

 

China's demand for imported soybeans is expected to increase due to higher domestic soybean prices, according to a survey by the China National Grain and Oil Information Center issued Friday.

 

Open interest for all soybean contracts fell 18,078 lots to 576,610 lots Friday.

 

Trading volume fell to 1,097,856 lots from 1,581,366 lots Thursday.

 

Corn futures, soymeal futures, soyoil futures and palm oil futures also settled lower.

 

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

 

Contract         Settlement       Price         Change        Volume

Soybean         May 2009        3,324         Dn   56      1,097,856

Corn              May 2009        1,658          Dn    8         150,910

Soymeal         May 2009        2,693         Dn   78         561,158

Palm Oil          Jan 2009         4,512         Dn   30         116,576

Soyoil             Jan 2009         6,372         Dn    8          790,134