China’s soybean crushing meets expectations, stocks continue to fall

China’s soybean crush volume rebounded slightly last week, falling in line with analysts’ expectations, while soybean stocks continued in a downward trend, data from the National Grain and Oil Information Centre (CNGOIC) showed Thursday.

The country’s crushing level rose by 70,000 mt on the week to 1.68 million mt, but the level was still 210,000 mt lower than the same period a year ago.

“Soybean arrivals were still relatively low recently, restricting crushers from increasing their operation rates. Soybean crushing this week is expected to fall below 1.6 million mt,” said CNGOIC.

Soybean stocks declined further on the week to 2.73 million mt, down 570,000 mt from the prior week and 2.08 million mt from the previous year.

Soymeal stocks continued to drop, falling to 230,000 mt last week on higher procurement rates from the feed industry.

The level was down 30,000 mt week-on-week and 220,000 mt from the same point last year.

Similarly, soyoil inventories in China’s major oil plants declined from a week ago to 710,000 mt, down 40,000 mt from the previous week and 130,000 mt from the prior year.