Monday: China soy futures settle up; expectations of inflation
China's soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Monday, along with a rise in other commodities amid expectations of inflation.
The benchmark September 2010 soy contract settled RMB22 higher at RMB3,778 a metric tonne, or up 0.6%.
A rise in vegetable oil contracts led gains in agricultural products, after the September soyoil contract opened above the recent resistance level of RMB7,400/tonne.
A weak dollar and big gains on the Chicago Board of Trade during electronic trading in Asian hours also helped the overall rise in agricultural product prices.
"The (agricultural product) prices have been under pressure for a long time" and any positive factor can give long position holders a reason to buy, according to Dong Shuangwei, an analyst with Capital Futures.
Higher soy imports in November and December, projected at 3.8 million tonnes and 4 million tonnes respectively, will help push annual imports to a record high, according to a China National Grain and Oils Information Center report issued Monday.
Thus, soymeal prices will likely fall as rising soy imports ease tight supply, while soyoil prices may rise towards the end of the year due to higher demand ahead of the year-end holidays and a decline in soyoil imports, CNGOIC said.
The trading volume of all soy contracts declined to 200,590 lots from 312,072 lots Friday.
The open interest fell 3,192 lots to 266,690 lots Monday.
Corn, soymeal, soyoil and palm oil futures all settled higher.
Monday's settlement prices in yuan a tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (one lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Product Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soy Sep 2010 3,778 Up 22 200,590
Corn May 2010 1,763 Up 5 162,826
Soymeal Sep 2010 2,854 Up 28 1,439,058
Palm Oil May 2010 6,356 Up 118 261,612
Soyoil Sep 2010 7,510 Up 114 893,774
