In the week to Friday December 6, the soybean crush margin in Central Illinois decreased by 2.75% week on week and by 36% year on year, according to the USDA’s National Weekly Grain Co-Products Report released on Monday December 9.

In the week to Friday, soybean meal prices dropped to a four-year low of $306.31 per short ton, down by 0.7% week on week from $308.40 per ton and by 30.7% year on year.

Soybean prices rose to $9.96 per bushel, up by 0.3% week on week from $9.93 per bu but down by 23.4% from a year earlier.

Soybean oil prices increased to 42.98 cents per lb, up by 0.3% week on week from 42.85 cents per lb but down by 18.3% year on year.

The decline in soybean meal prices led to a crush margin of $2.23 per bu, the lowest in five months. This represents a drop of 78 cents per bu compared with the previous six-week average of $3.01 per bu.

Market update
Most grain prices on the…