US bean crushing hits record in December, above trade guess

US December crush figures for soybean were above trade expectations on Tuesday, with industry figures showing 166.4 million bushels were processed versus trade estimates of around 165 million bushels.

The figures were up on November figures of 163.5 million bushels and a record for December crushing, beating the 2013 previous record of 165.3 million bushels.

“We look for crush rates to remain very strong through the rest of the marketing year and are at 1.953 billion bushels for 2017-18, 3 million above (the) USDA (estimate),” said Terry Reilly, an analyst with Futures International.

In terms of oil stocks, the figures represented a big build compared to estimates, with official figures showing 1.54 billion pounds versus trade guesses of 1.38 billion pounds.

The figures had a muted impact on the market with soybean futures for March ending the day at $9.68/bu, just 4 cents higher than where they were at the time of the data release.