- Brazilian orchards have suffered their worst drought on record this year.
- The country could therefore produce just 267.87m boxes of orange in 2021/22.
- Frosty conditions across São Paulo have made matters worse, killing off a lot of young trees.
Brazilian Orange Production Falls Yet Again
- We now think Brazil will produce 267.87m boxes of orange in 2021/22, down 26m boxes (9%) from our earlier estimate.
- This is largely because the country has endured its most severe water shortage for 91 years.
- A drought as bad as this has never been seen in Brazil’s Citrus Belt (São Paulo and Southwest Mineiro), so the orchards there are badly damaged.
- Even the irrigated orchards, which cover more than 30% of the Citrus Belt’s total, are badly damaged.
- Across the drought-hit orchards, we’ve seen oranges drop prematurely, meaning they’re smaller in size.
- A single box now holds around 283 oranges, weighing 144.2g each, down 14.7% from the five-year average (169g).
- Brazil’s weather woes don’t stop here, though; São Paulo also endured frosty conditions this season.
- In the frost-hit orchards, we’ve seen damaged leaves, branches, and fruits and, in more severe cases, younger trees that have died.
- With these poor weather conditions set to persist for the rest of the harvest, Brazil’s oranges could be the smallest and earliest to drop on record.
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