Large commodity investment firms, called managed money, trimmed their collective net long live cattle futures position in the week ended Tuesday but did not cross the line into being net short.
The data came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report Friday.
Managed money’s new net long live cattle position Tuesday stood at 2,722 contracts, down 1,742, or 39.0%, from 4,464 the week before. This maintains the nearly flat live cattle position they have held since early March.
At the same time, those who own the cattle at some point and come at the market mostly as hedgers, called commercial traders, extended their collective net short futures position in the week leading up to Tuesday, the CFTC data showed. As of Tuesday, they were net short by 102,643 contracts, up from 98,118 a week earlier. It was their largest net short position since March 3 when it was short by 103,220 contracts.
The CFTC said managed money arrived at its new net long cattle position by liquidating 1,258 long positions, adding 484 short positions and putting on 113 new spread positions. This left their position representing 13.7% of total long open interest, 12.7% of total short open interest and 13.7% of total spread open interest.
The CFTC also said commercial traders got to where they were Tuesday by adding 74 long positions and 4,599 short positions. This left them in control of 14.5% of total long open interest and 52.1% of total short open interest.
The CME Group said total live cattle open interest as of Tuesday was 273,175 contracts, up 6,256, or 2.34%, from 266,919 a week earlier.
CME Group data also showed that the most-active Jun contract rose in value during the CFTC reporting week to settle Tuesday at $86.47 per cwt, compared with $84.70 a week earlier. This was a gain of $1.77, or 2.09%.
FUNDS SELL MORE CORN
In the week ended Tuesday, managed money continued to sell corn, resulting in a collective net short position of 189,741 contracts, up 29,096, or 18.1%, from 160,645. This was their largest net short position since May 14, 2019, when it was short by 298,551 contracts.
Commercials, on the other hand, continued to cover their short positions, resulting in a collective net short position of 37,099 contracts Tuesday. This was down 25,726 contracts, or 40.9%, from being short by 62,825 contracts the week before, and was their lowest net short position since May 14, 2019, when it was short by 21,856 contracts.
The CFTC said managed money arrived at its new corn position by liquidating 8,927 long positions, adding 20,169 short positions and unwinding 4,476 spread positions. This left their position representing 8.4% of total long open interest, 22.0% of total short open interest and 12.2% of total spread open interest.
Commercials got to their new position by liquidating 6,898 long positions and covering 32,624 short positions, leaving them with 36.6% of long open interest and 29.2% of short open interest.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Cattle traded last week at $95 to $115 per cwt on a live basis, up $1 to $10 from the previous week’s range. Dressed-basis trading was seen at $145 to $180 per cwt, down $5 to up $30.
The USDA choice cutout Friday was up $2.34 per cwt at $460.88, while select was up $0.42 at $448.99. The choice/select spread widened to $11.89 from $9.97 with 63 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Thursday was $121.14 per cwt, up $0.75. This compares with Friday’s May contract settlement of $127.90, down $2.37.