April 6 (Reuters) – Speculators increased their bullish bets on cotton
futures and options on ICE Futures U.S. for a second week amid expectations of a
supply squeeze, while they cut their longs in sugar.
Money managers, including hedge funds and other speculative investors,
turned more bullish on coffee and raised their net short in cocoa in the week to
April 3, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday.
After switching to a net long position in the previous week, they added
further length in cotton with an additional net 7,179 contracts to 10,445
contracts.
Fears have mounted about a possible supply squeeze due to an export ban in
India. Farmers are also expected to plant less cotton this season in favor of
higher-priced crops such as corn and soybeans.
This was the biggest weekly jump since January, but even so some speculators
are betting on falling prices, with an almost as large increase (6,229) in
shorts.
Speculators continued to flip flop on sugar, cutting their net long position
after two weeks of increases on expectations of a lower-than-expected crop out
of Brazil would send prices even higher.
The net long fell by 17,576 contracts to 65,380 with over 3,000 shorts
added.
Money managers raised their net short in cocoa by 5,933 contracts to 24,824,
their most bearish stance since mid-February. In contrast, they trimmed their
short position in coffee for a second week, cutting it by 1,454 to 17,554
contracts.
Selected categories from the CFTC weekly Commitment of Traders report:
SUPPLEMENTAL Non-Comm Indexes Comm
Net Chg Net Chg Net Chg
Cocoa -24,824 -5,932 31,681 -2,340 -5,843 9,886
Sugar 65,380 -17,576 247,470 4,361 -342,653 15,520
Coffee -17,554 1,454 37,826 -195 -19,392 -1,503
Cotton 10,445 7,179 68,902 1,512 -83,599 -8,243
=====================================================================
FUTURES + OPTS Managed Swaps Producer
Net Chg Net Chg Net Chg
Cocoa -9,632 -6,143 3,344 -2289 7,427 9,908
Sugar 118,339 -16,814 100,300 5015 -269,454 14,669
Coffee -8,309 1,655 22,265 -275 -14,288 -1,425
Cotton 7,296 8,244 48,669 1880 -78,307 -9,647
Other NonReport Open
Net Chg Net Chg Interest Chg
Cocoa -126 137 -1,013 -1,613 192,144 5,935
Sugar 21,010 -568 29,803 -2,305 881,548 -12,735
Coffee 1,212 -198 -879 244 229,551 5,527
Cotton 18,092 -26 4,252 -449 256,493 2,453
=====================================================================
FUTURES ONLY Managed Swaps Producer
Net Chg Net Chg Net Chg
Cocoa -10,925 -6,119 3,424 -2,326 6,362 9,597
Sugar 125,859 -16,860 103,916 4,115 -254,775 14,354
Coffee -8,408 2,273 23,409 -403 -23,263 -1,767
Cotton 4,927 8,824 47,596 2,046 -68,784 -9,045
Other NonReport Open
Net Chg Net Chg Interest Chg
Cocoa 2,343 711 659 1285 171,898 3,492
Sugar -6,356 1,054 34,019 1663 735,961 8,078
Coffee 9,490 -241 -1,228 197 157,812 -655
Cotton 11,820 -1,458 4,441 -367 191,444 2,229
=====================================================================
SUPPLEMENTAL FUTURES + OPTS FUTURES ONLY
Cocoa
Sugar
Coffee
Cotton
Additional CFTC data can be found at or
or the CFTC website at
