"Too Expensive to Buy"... Orange Juice Prices Soar Due to Weather Anomalies

Orange Juice Gift Prices Break Record Highs Consecutively
Florida Production Plummets Due to Hurricanes and Greening Disease

The price of orange juice has reached an all-time high and continues its upward trajectory. Due to abnormal weather and citrus greening disease, production in the United States, a major orange-producing region, has sharply declined since last year, causing orange juice prices to show no signs of falling.

According to Investing.com and others on the 3rd, the September futures price of frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange on the 31st of last month surpassed $3.19 per pound. Until October last year, the futures price of orange juice was below $2 per pound, but it has generally been on the rise, crossing the $3 mark on the 21st of last month. The increase was 138% over the past three years and 82% over the past year. It has recently been setting record highs.

The rapid rise in orange juice prices is due to poor orange crop conditions in Florida, a major producing area. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last month that the orange production for the 2022-2023 season is expected to be 15.85 million boxes. Considering that over 41 million boxes were harvested in the 2021-2022 season, this season's production is less than half of that.

Foreign media explained that this level of production has not been seen since the 1930s, the lowest point since World War II.

Florida's orange crop condition depends on hurricane damage. U.S. orange production set a record high of 240 million boxes in 1998 but began to deteriorate significantly after hurricane damage in 2004.

In 2018, orange production in the region also sharply declined, influenced by agricultural losses amounting to $2.5 billion caused by Hurricane Irma in 2017. Last year, Hurricane Ian caused agricultural losses of $1 billion in Florida. As the hurricane season approaches again, price volatility is expected to increase depending on weather changes in the Florida region.

Moreover, citrus greening disease, which causes malformed fruit on orange trees, has struck Florida, deepening farmers' concerns.

Given this situation, the United States has expanded imports from Brazil, the world's largest orange-producing country, to a record high. According to Bloomberg News, from June last year to June this year, the volume of orange juice imported by the U.S. from Brazil increased by 55% compared to the previous year, setting an all-time high. Although Florida's orange production is expected to somewhat recover this year, it is still anticipated to be very low, so imports are expected to continue rising.

As orange juice futures prices rise, consumer prices are also expected to increase inevitably. Some are moving toward 'shrinkflation,' adjusting costs by lowering the juice content in orange juice while keeping consumer prices the same.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.