The U.S. soybean crush plunged in April to a seven-month low, missing all trade estimates, while soyoil stocks unexpectedly declined for the first time in six months, according to National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) data released on Wednesday.
NOPA members, which account for around 95% of soybeans crushed in the United States, processed 166.034 million bushels of soybeans last month, down 15.5% from the record 196.406 million bushels in March and down 4.2% from 173.232 million bushels in April 2023.
The crush was well below the average trade estimate of 183.072 million bushels in a Reuters survey of 10 analysts. Estimates ranged from 173.980 million to 191.000 million bushels, with a median of 184.100 million bushels.
U.S. soy processors have expanded capacity over recent years to capitalize on rising vegetable oil demand from renewable fuels makers.
But a downturn in demand, as biofuel producers turned to cheaper alternatives like imported used cooking oil, has eroded crush margins, analysts said.
Several processing plants also scheduled seasonal downtime last month for maintenance and repairs following a brisk crush pace since last autumn’s harvest, they said.
April’s soy processing rate fell from a year ago across the eastern Midwest and the Southwest, but increased in the western Midwest and northern Plains, where some new plants have opened, NOPA data showed.
Soyoil stocks among NOPA members as of April 30 fell to 1.755 billion lbs, down 5.2% from the 1.851 billion lbs on hand at the end of March and the first end-of-month supply decline since October. Analysts, on average, had expected stocks to rise to 1.882 billion lbs, according to estimates from seven analysts. Soyoil stocks estimates ranged from 1.800 billion to 1.975 billion lbs, with a median of 1.885 billion lbs.