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Speculators in the US soybean market increased short positions in the week to Tuesday July 30, helping boost the net short position, which neared the record high reached in July, commitment of traders’ data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed late on Friday August 2. Meanwhile, managed money investors in the corn market disposed of short positions during the same period, helping trim their net short position. The three US wheat markets presented a mixed picture in the week to July 30.
Soybean and corn futures dropped during the period covered by the report, because rain in prime US growing regions eased concerns about crop conditions.
US wheat futures also declined in the week to June 30, because of projected record yields in North Dakota – the country’s top producer of hard red spring wheat.
Speculators in the soybean market increased short positions by 2,734 lots, bringing the total to 226,335 lots. Investors held 243,133 shorts in the week to July 16, the highest level in data going back to September 2017.
Soybean long positions decreased by 12,198 lots to 47,744 lots, a 14-week low.
The increase in short positions, coupled with the decline in long positions, bolstered net short positions by 14,932 lots to 178,932. The net short reached 185,750 lots in the week to July 16, also the highest level in data going back to September 2017.
In the soybean oil market, the net short position jumped by 29,967 lots to 59,587 lots, while the soybean meal net long position climbed by 16,389 lots to 31,730 lots.
Investors in corn cut short positions by 22,282 lots from the prior week, bringing the total to 454,873 lots.
Corn long positions advanced by 1,171 lots to 159,777 lots.
This resulted in the net short position declining by 23,453 lots to 295,096 lots.
Managed money investors bolstered short positions in the Chicago and Kansas wheat markets, while reducing shorts in the Minneapolis wheat market.
In the Chicago wheat market – the largest of the three – speculators bolstered short positions by 5,872 lots to 152,635 lots, a 14-week high.
Long positions increased by 3,440 lots to 75,019 lots, an eight-week high.
As a result, net short positions climbed by 2,432 lots to 77,616 lots, a 15-week high.
Investors in the Kansas wheat contract boosted short positions by 1,009 lots to 80,283 lots.
Speculators bolstered the number of long positions they held by 1,683 lots to 40,091 lots.
The gain in short positions, coupled with a bigger increase in long positions, trimmed the net short position by 674 lots to 40,192 lots.
The Minneapolis wheat contract posted a drop of 1,650 lots in short positions, bringing the total to 32,923 lots.
The number of long positions slipped by 724 lots to 7,991 lots, a 16-week low.
This led to the net short position slipping by 926 lots to 24,932 lots.
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