Most-active CBOT soymeal futures on Friday hit US$476.10 (RM2,095) per short tonne, its highest since March 31, and the contract rose more than 5% in the last three sessions. — Reuters
SPECULATORS finished 2022 on a less bullish note across Chicago grains and oilseeds than in the previous two years and were far less enthused with corn and wheat, though their optimism in the soy complex is stronger than a year ago.
Ongoing drought in top soybean meal exporter Argentina lifted money managers’ net long position in the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean meal futures and options to near record levels as of Dec 27, marking funds’ fifth consecutive week of buying.
The managed money meal net long of 129,989 contracts, up about 8,700 on the week, rivals May 2018’s high of 133,549. However, other reportable speculators were a bit more bullish in 2018 versus now.
Most-active CBOT soymeal futures on Friday hit US$476.10 (RM2,095) per short tonne, its highest since March 31, and the contract rose more than 5% in the last three sessions. Most-active meal added 18% in 2022, the largest gain across CBOT grain and oilseed contracts.
Data published last Friday by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission also showed the overall speculative CBOT soybean long as of Dec 27 was slightly larger than the year-ago level. That is supported by a heavier managed money net long: 128,616 futures and options contracts now versus about 98,000 a year ago.
Most-active CBOT soybean futures last Friday settled at US$15.24 (RM67) per bushel, their highest since June. The contract rose 13.8% on the year, including 2.8% gains over the final three sessions.
CBOT soybean oil futures expanded 13.3% in 2022 after increasing by a third in 2021, though they declined 3.5% in the latest three sessions. Through Dec 27, money managers added nearly 7,500 contracts to their soyoil net long, which reached 65,587 futures and options contracts. That compares with 45,394 a year earlier.
The four-session week ended Dec 27 featured money managers’ largest weekly round of corn buying since November 2021 on a 3.5% bump in futures, and new longs accounted for three-fourths of the move.
However, funds’ new CBOT corn net long of 159,315 futures and options contracts, up 45,500 on the week, is far smaller than the year-ago 373,345. Most-active corn rose 14.4% in 2022, including a two-month high of US$6.85 (RM30) per bushel Friday. That compares with a near 23% boost in 2021. — Reuters
Karen Braun is a market analyst for Reuters. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
