NAPERVILLE, Ill., – Chicago grain and oilseed futures underwent a remarkable rebound following a sharp downturn spanning the July 4 holiday break, but speculators were more interested in continuing the selling once prices broke last Tuesday.
CBOT corn futures had risen as much as 14 percent during the week ended July 12, but steep losses on July 12 put weekly gains at just over 1 percent, and money managers marked their fourth consecutive week of heavier selling in the yellow grain.
Their net long fell by more than 21,000 futures and options contracts during the week to 151,174 contracts, the least bullish since October 2020. That was predominantly due to a reduction in longs, though funds added a small number of shorts.
In 2022, money managers’ corn net long has been as large as 384,101 futures and options contracts — equivalent to 1.92 billion bushels — in late March. Their position was 208,799 contracts on July 13, 2021, which was the low for the year.
CBOT soybeans also notched four days of gains through July 11, rising as much as 9.3 percent, though they ended the period through July 12 up just over 2 percent.
Money managers chopped their soybean net long during the week by more than 9,000 contracts, and it fell to 95,711 futures and options contracts, the smallest since December. The shedding of gross longs outweighed a smaller round of short-covering, funds’ first short reduction in four weeks.
