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Cotton COT — Week of September 25, 2026

Cotton (CT) CFTC COT Positioning Report — Week of September 25, 2026

Executive summary

The CFTC Disaggregated Commitments of Traders report for the week ending September 25, 2026, reveals a sharp bout of long liquidation by speculative funds in Cotton futures. Managed Money reduced its gross long holdings by 15,373 contracts, pulling net speculative length down to +76,182 contracts from +91,935 contracts in the preceding week and a cycle high of +100,963 contracts on September 4, 2026. Total open interest edged up by 3,810 contracts to 384,016, matching the year's peak liquidity levels. Commercial participants absorbed fund selling, as Producer/Merchants expanded long positions by 13,742 contracts, trimming aggregate commercial net short exposure.

Positioning (net, extremes vs recent weeks)

Category Gross Long Gross Short Spreading Net Position Net vs Prior Week
Managed Money 88,885 12,703 45,061 +76,182 -15,753
Producer/Merchant 65,741 220,352 — -154,611 +11,792
Swap Dealers 68,095 26,294 17,124 +41,801 +1,084
Other Reportables 49,413 22,567 31,996 +26,846 +2,008
Non-Reportable (Small Traders) 17,701 7,919 — +9,782 +869

Historical Context & Extremes

  • Managed Money: Although net long positioning contracted to +76,182 contracts, funds remain substantially bullish compared to early 2026, when the category held an extreme net short position of -80,705 contracts (February 20, 2026). Net length is now retreating from the peak registered on September 4, 2026 (+100,963 contracts).
  • Producer/Merchant: Commercial net short positioning narrowed to -154,611 contracts from -166,403 contracts the week prior, having scaled up hedging aggressively through August and September as funds drove open interest higher.
  • Swap Dealers: Swap dealers remain net long at +41,801 contracts (17.7% of total long open interest vs 6.8% of short open interest).

Flows and week-over-week changes

  • Managed Money: Cut 15,373 long contracts (-14.7% of gross long book) while adding a modest 380 short contracts. Spreading positions rose by 2,928 contracts to 45,061 contracts.
  • Producer/Merchant: Added 13,742 long contracts (+26.4%) and added 1,950 short contracts (+0.9%).
  • Swap Dealers: Reduced gross longs by 451 contracts and gross shorts by 1,535 contracts, while expanding spreading by 1,092 contracts.
  • Other Reportables: Added 2,225 gross longs and 217 gross shorts, with spreading declining by 661 contracts.
  • Non-Reportable: Added 308 longs and covered 561 shorts.
Managed Money Flow Breakdown:
 Gross Longs:  [-15,373]  ████████████████ (De-risking / Profit-taking)
 Gross Shorts: [   +380]  ▌
 Spreading:    [ +2,928]  ███
 Net Change:   [-15,753]

Commercials vs speculators

Category Position Breakdown (% of Total Open Interest)
Managed Money Long:       [23.1%]  █████
Managed Money Short:      [ 3.3%]  █
Producer/Merchant Long:   [17.1%]  ████
Producer/Merchant Short:  [57.4%]  ██████████████
Swap Dealer Long:         [17.7%]  ████
Swap Dealer Short:        [ 6.8%]  ██
  • Speculative Concentration: Managed Money accounts for 23.1% of all open interest on the long side, down from 27.4% the prior week and 30.2% on September 4. The ratio of managed money longs to shorts stands at 7.0:1 (90 long traders vs 29 short traders).
  • Commercial Absorption: Producer/Merchants continue to hold the bulk of short open interest (57.4%, or 220,352 contracts across 52 traders). However, the sizable jump in producer long exposure (+13,742 contracts to 65,741 across 44 traders) indicates mill fixing and commercial buying stepping in to absorb speculative liquidation.

Open interest and participation

  • Total Open Interest: 384,016 contracts, up +3,810 contracts (+1.0% WoW). This represents the highest level in the dataset, surpassing the 383,730 contracts recorded on September 4, 2026.
  • Trader Participation: Total unique reportable traders decreased slightly to 354 from 369 in the prior week.
  • Top Trader Concentration:
    • Top 4 Traders: Account for 8.7% of net long and 24.0% of net short positions (11.1% gross long, 27.6% gross short).
    • Top 8 Traders: Account for 14.6% of net long and 31.6% of net short positions (17.7% gross long, 39.4% gross short).

Price context

  • Data Availability: No daily price series was provided in the current feed run. Price action cannot be directly cross-referenced with positioning flows for this reporting cycle.

Risks and watchpoints

  • Speculative Long Liquidation Momentum: Managed Money shed over 15k gross longs in a single week. If funds continue to unwind length from the multi-month buildup, price risk remains skewed to the downside in the absence of fresh commercial buying.
  • Producer Hedging Wall: Commercials maintain over 220,000 short contracts (57.4% of total market open interest). Any sustained price rallies are likely to meet substantial producer selling resistance.
  • Old Crop vs New Crop Distribution: Of the 384,016 total open interest, 350,780 contracts reside in old-crop contracts, where Managed Money maintains 84,839 gross longs against only 14,083 gross shorts. Contract rolls and crop year transitions could trigger further positioning reshuffling.

For extended historical positioning data, consult the [CT] Cotton COT Dashboard.