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Managed money investors in the corn market also added a substantial number of long positions during the period covered by the report, bringing them to the highest level since February 2023, with prices trading in a tight range as market participants weighed the nearly complete US harvest and robust global demand.
Soybean prices edged higher during the same period amid the announcement of a flurry of USDA export sales to China and unknown destinations.
Meanwhile, wheat futures edged lower on speculation that cheaper Russian grain will soon be made available to the global market and on forecasts for much-needed rain in parts of the US Great Plains in the upcoming week, where farmers are planting the winter wheat crop.
In the corn market, speculators slashed shorts by 40,102 lots, bringing the total to 262,093 shorts.
Long positions rose by 13,694 lots to 244,390 lots, an 88-week high.
The sharp decline in short positions, coupled with a gain in long positions, reduced the net short by 53,796 lots to 17,703 lots, a 65-week low.
Managed money investors in the soybean market boosted short positions by 15,088 lots in the week to Tuesday, bringing the total to 167,698 lots.
Soybean long positions climbed by 2,436 lots to 95,472 lots, a 48-week high.
The gain in short positions, coupled with the smaller increase in longs, bolstered the net short by 12,652 lots to 72,226 lots.
The soybean oil market net long dipped by 3,122 lots to 37,527 lots, while the soybean meal market net long tumbled by 43,550 lots to 12,989 lots, the lowest in nine weeks.
In the Chicago wheat market, which is the largest of the trio, speculators increased short positions by 1,943 lots to 99,618 lots.
Long positions declined by 314 lots to 68,446 lots.
The increase in short positions and the slight decrease in longs bolstered the net short position by 2,257 lots to 31,172 lots, the highest in eight weeks.
Investors in the Kansas wheat contract bolstered short positions by 6,524 lots to 51,743 lots.
Speculators added to their long positions by 3,011 lots to 42,583 lots.
The increase in short positions, coupled with the smaller gain in long positions, boosted the net short position by 3,513 lots to 9,160 lots.
Investors in the Minneapolis wheat contract increased short positions by 5,181 lots to 23,762 lots.
The number of long positions slipped by 583 lots to 7,781 lots, the lowest in eight weeks.
This led to the net short position climbing by 5,764 lots to 15,981 lots.
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