After the devastation of Hurricane Milton the futures of orange juice are on the rise over the last two days. This is due to the expected decrease in the production of Florida’s oranges. The storm’s passage through the key zones of citrus production within Florida has resulted in massive losses in fruit as well as damage to the trees that produce citrus. Industry expert Judy Ganes estimates the loss to be more than three million orange boxes she predicts that the next Florida harvest may be the lowest in the last decade since the 1920s.

To reflect these trends an active orange juice market experienced the 3.3 percentage growth to 3.3% in New York. The increase comes as prices have surpassed record levels in the month of March, fueled by shortages of supplies in the world and a extremely dry season in Brazil which is the top exporter of oranges. Florida has been regarded as the largest producer of oranges to juice within the United States and ranking second in total production of oranges in the world, behind California and California, is already faced with problems from the citrus greening disease as well as the effects of the hurricane Ian just two years before.

The latest hurricane as well as the disappointing prediction for the Florida’s crop of orange has added to the challenges. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s first forecast for 2024/25’s crop year which was made public prior to the assessment of the damage caused by Milton, estimated the production of Florida’s oranges of 15 million boxes representing the lowest level of production since. In addition the USDA report pointed out the absence growth in size which is a crucial measure of the health of crops and health, as greening diseases are often leading to smaller fruit. Ganes emphasized that industry’s expectations of better fruit sizes and lower drop rate weren’t met and was evident by the increasing number of pieces required to fill up a container.

Source: BNN Bloomberg