Agricultural funds liquidate corn and soybean positions

Agricultural investment funds have begun liquidating positions in corn and soybeans, leading to a decline in prices on the CME Group. According to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data, speculative net positions in corn futures and options fell by 1.9% week-over-week, while soybean positions dropped by 6.8%.

Despite this liquidation, Chinese state buyers have reportedly purchased approximately one million tonnes of American soybeans this week. While soybean funds saw a weekly gain of 0.65%, corn and wheat funds ended the week lower.

The market movement occurs amid shifts in monetary policy, as the U.S. Federal Reserve has raised interest rates. This change follows a period of lower rates that had previously encouraged capital inflows into commodity futures markets. In the corporate sector, agricultural companies such as Bunge and Adecoagro saw declines following the softer grain markets.