China's soybean, soymeal futures fall on African swine fever worries

[BEIJING] China's soybean and soymeal futures fell in early trade on Monday, hit by concerns that outbreaks of African swine fever in China may reduce demand for feed, along with forecasts for a record U.S. crop.

China's soybean futures fell 1.7 per cent to 3,594 yuan (S$713.36) per tonne, their lowest levels in almost 10 years.

Domestic soybeans are mainly used in the food sector, but they often track soymeal prices.

The most actively traded soymeal futures on Dalian Commodity Exchange for delivery in January dropped 1.9 per cent to 3,070 yuan per tonne, their lowest since late June.

High inventories in China also weighed on the market.

"Soybean meal and domestic soybeans are expected to drop further on forecasts of a bumper harvest in the United States and Brazil's depreciating currency," said Pan Tiantian, analyst with Zheshang futures.

"Pressure from the fundamentals here is already huge, and now there's the African swine fever outbreaks. If the disease keeps spreading, it will have a bigger impact on the already weak demand for meals," Pan said.

China has culled over 25,000 pigs after the nation reported four ASF outbreaks in a month.

The most actively traded rapeseed meal futures on Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange for delivery in January also fell 2.5 percent to 2,356 yuan, their lowest in two months.

REUTERS