WASHINGTON, Dec. 1: U.S. soybean crush was 5.9 million short tons (197 million bushels) in October, up 29 million or so from September’s 167.6 million bushels, according to monthly oilseed crush data released by the USDA on Thursday. 17.3%, basically the same as the 196.9 million bushels in the same period last year.

Before the release of the report, analysts on average expected the U.S. soybean crush to be 5.877 million short tons (195.9 million bushels) in October, an increase of 16.9% from the previous month. The forecast range is 194.0 million bushels to 197.1 million bushels, with a median of 196.2 million bushels.

At the end of October, US soybean oil inventories increased by 5.2% month-on-month, lower than expected

Data from the US Department of Agriculture showed that US soybean oil inventories at the end of October were 2.094 billion pounds, an increase of 5.2% from the 23-month low of 1.999 billion pounds at the end of September, and a decrease of 12.3% from the 2.386 billion pounds at the end of October last year.

As a comparison, before the release of the report, analysts estimated that the U.S. soybean oil inventory at the end of October would be 2.107 billion pounds, a month-on-month increase of 5.4% and a year-on-year decrease of 11.7%. The forecast range ranges from 2.060 billion to 2.193 billion pounds, with a median of 2.100 billion pounds.

For reference, members of the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) crushed 184.464 million bushels of soybeans in October, up 16.7% from September and 0.3% from October 2021. Soybean oil inventories held by NOPA members on October 31 were 1.528 billion pounds, which was the first month-on-month increase in eight months.