MarketsFarm — The net speculative short position in the ICE Futures canola market rose to its largest level ever recorded as fund traders put on fresh bearish bets and liquidated previously placed long positions, according to the latest Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
As of Oct. 24, the net managed money short position in canola futures came in at 93,603 contracts (6,745 long, 100,348 short), an increase of about 22,800 contracts from the previous week and the largest net short position ever recorded for the commodity in the past five-and-a-half years of available data. The largest net short position in canola futures hit previously was 75,357 contracts in March 2023.
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Open interest in the canola market came in at 270,477 contracts, which was down by 32,495 contracts from the previous week.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, fund traders moved back to the long side of the market in soybeans, moving from a small net short of about 3,400 contracts to a net long of around 6,800 contracts.
Meanwhile, the net short position in corn decreased by about 6,000 at roughly 99,500 contracts.
In wheat, the Chicago soft wheat market reported a net short position of about 97,700 contracts, which was down by about 13,000 contracts from the previous wee on a combination of speculative short covering and new longs going on the books. The net short in Kansas City hard red winter wheat came in at roughly 29,300 contracts. In Minneapolis spring wheat, managed money traders were holding a net short of around 25,200 contracts.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin is an associate editor/analyst with MarketsFarm in Winnipeg.
