MarketsFarm — Speculators added to their large net short position in ICE Futures canola during the week ended Tuesday, according to the latest commitment of traders (CoT) report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Managed money and other reportable speculators had a net short position of 58,004 contracts on Tuesday, up by about 1,000 from the previous week, according to the report.

Open interest in the canola market decreased by roughly 2,000 contracts, to 177,178, during the week.

The most-active July contract hit a multi-year low of $444.80 per tonne Tuesday, with many technical indicators pointing lower still.

However, the large speculative short position could eventually become supportive, if anything ever happens to trigger a short-covering bounce, according to market analysts.

At the Chicago Board of Trade the net fund short position in soybeans rose dramatically during the week ended April 23, hitting 86,500 contracts.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for MarketsFarm, a Glacier FarmMedia division specializing in grain and commodity market analysis and reporting.