WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release its monthly oilseed processing report on Tuesday, and analysts expect U.S. soybean crush to fall for a second straight month in September, a survey showed.

Analysts polled expect the U.S. soybean crush to be 5.029 million short tons or 167.6 million bushels in September, down from 175 million bushes in August but up from the 164.1 million bushes crushed in September 2021. It would also be the lowest monthly crush in 12 months.

Analysts’ forecasts ranged from 165.0 million bushels to 170.5 million bushels, with a median of 167.9 million bushels.

Soybean oil stocks expected to fall to 23-month low

U.S. soybean oil inventories are forecast at 2.0 billion pounds as of Sept. 30, a 23-month low, down from 2.103 billion pounds at the end of August and 2.131 billion pounds at the end of September, according to analysts’ average forecast.

The forecast range ranges from 1.900 billion to 2.100 billion pounds, with a median of 2.000 billion pounds.

According to the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA), its member companies crushed 158.109 million bushels of soybeans in September, down 4.5 percent from August but up 2.8 percent from September 2021.

Soybean oil stocks held by NOPA members fell to a two-year low of 1.459 billion pounds as of Sept. 30.