U.S. Soybean Processing Capacity Continues Expansion

The U.S. soybean processing industry continues to expand its plant capacity--to an estimated 750 million bushels during 1967/68. This is nearly 2 1/2 times capacity in 1951/52. The efficiency and capacity per plant increased markedly during this period, as the number of processing mills declined from 193 in 1951/52 to 135 in 1967/68. Soybean crushings have increased in about the same proportion as processing capacity, but every year there has been unused capacity. During the 1951-66 period, the ratio of utilized capacity (crushings) to total capacity has averaged about 80%