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The December soybean crush reported Jan. 24 by the U.S. Census Bureau came up short of trade expectations, while soymeal stocks were larger than expected, but the news had little impact on the soybean market.

The Census Bureau pegged the December soybean crush at 162.4 million bushels, compared with trade estimates averaging 165 million bushels in a range from 163.2-166 million bushels.

The monthly crush was still up 4.8% from a November crush of 155.7 million bushels and was up 3.9% from the December 2006 crush of 157.2 million bushels.

Processor stocks of soy/hull meal were pegged at 405,458 short tons by the Census Bureau, compared with trade estimates averaging 368,000 tons.

End-of-December soymeal stocks were up from 294,768 short tons at the end of November, but down from 475,675 a year earlier.

Processor stocks of soyoil were reported at 3.03 billion pounds vs. trade estimates averaging 3.084 billion pounds.

End-of-December soyoil stocks were down from 3.043 billion pounds at the end of November and 3.141 billion pounds a year earlier.

Processor stocks of soybeans were pegged at 116.4 million bushels, down from 139.4 million at the end of November and 127 million bushels a year earlier.

Editor’s note: Richard Brock, The Corn And Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.