CHICAGO - U.S. soybean processors surprisingly slowed their crushing pace during November despite a record soybean harvest in the U.S. Midwest, the National Oilseed Processors Association said on Tuesday.
NOPA said that its members crushed 156.134 million bushels of soybeans in November, down from 158.895 million during October. That was the lightest November crush since 2011.
In November 2014, the NOPA crush came in at 161.211 million bushels.
Analysts had been expecting a November crush of 161.663 million bushels. Forecasts ranged from 157.675 million to 165.400 million. The median was 162.550 million bushels.
Dealers on the cash market reported slow farmer sales of soybeans throughout November, which may have cut into the amount of bushels available for processors. Additionally, the prospect of weakening export demand for U.S. soymeal allowed processors to dial back their crush rate.
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NOPA said that soyoil stocks as of Nov. 30 stood at 1.477 billion lbs. Analysts had forecast soyoil stocks at 1.450 billion lbs. Stocks were 1.005 billion lbs a year ago and 1.408 billion at the end of October.
NOPA is the largest U.S. trade group for oilseed processors. It releases crush data on the 15th of each month or the next business day.
