MarketsFarm –– Fund traders were buying back short positions and putting on some new longs in the canola futures market during the first full week of May, causing the net short position to narrow in slightly, according to the latest Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
As of May 9, the net managed money short position in ICE canola futures came in at 57,059 contracts (78,916 short, 21,887 long), a decrease of about 5,000 contracts from the previous week.
Open interest in the canola market came in at 256,563 contracts on May 9, which was up by about 3,900 from the previous week.
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To Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, there are two main reasons for recent increases for feed barley and wheat. Haley said on March 12 that there’s an ongoing lack of farmer selling, plus stiff competition from the grain companies looking to export barley.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, fund traders were holding a net long of about 49,700 contracts in soybeans, down by about 5,000 from the previous week. Meanwhile, the net short position in corn dipped to 104,500, from 112,000 the previous week.
In wheat, the Chicago soft wheat market reported a net short position of about 119,600 contracts. The funds moved from a small net short, to a net long of about 5,900 in Kansas City hard red winter wheat during the week. In Minneapolis spring wheat, managed money traders holding were holding a net short of around 8,300 contracts.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin is an associate editor/analyst with MarketsFarm in Winnipeg.
