Markets were somewhat of a mixed bag today as wheat prices received a boost, potentially from some overselling following the positive talks around the potential grain corridor in Ukraine last week, while war rages on within Ukraine.

High temperatures in the US and only limited rainfall in the forecast for this week in the US, has also contributed to today’s bounce. Alongside the extreme heat across parts of the UK and EU over the weekend, which likely also raised some supply concerns with new crop Paris maize having recently made gains.

While European markets have been supported through heatwaves, Managed Money speculative long positions in corn continued to fall in the week ending 11 July, falling to the least number of long positions held since September 2020, while short positions increased at an accelerated pace.

In wheat, while the number of short positions held were little changed, the number of long positions have continued to decline and the now overall net short position has increased.

In soybeans, Managed Money continue to hold a strong overall net long position, but the degree of bullishness has been decreasing with the number of long positions being cut to the least held since December 2021.