- Many US orange crops have been ravaged by a disease called ‘citrus greening’.
- This impairs the trees’ ability to take in nourishment and results fewer, smaller fruits.
- The USA should therefore produce 4.6m tons of orange in 2020/21, down 12% year-on-year.
Poor Orange Production in the USA
- The USA should produce 4.6m tons of orange this season, down 552k tons year-on-year.
- Florida’s suffered the heaviest losses, meaning California will be this season’s largest producer (2.18m tons).
- As usual, Texas will contribute only a small amount to the grand total (45k tons).
Why is US Orange Production Down?
- Many growers have been hit hard financially throughout the pandemic.
- With this, they’ve been unable to invest enough into their production to guarantee strong yields.
- This meant many US orange crops were ravaged by a disease called ‘citrus greening’.
- Citrus greening is spread by the Asian Citrus Psyllid, which feeds on the stems and leaves of the orange trees, infecting them with the bacteria that causes the greening.
- This greening impairs the trees’ ability to take in nourishment and ultimately results fewer, smaller fruits.
- Sadly, once the tree is infected, there’s no cure, making it incredibly important that farmers protect themselves by applying protective treatments (if they can afford to).
How Have Prices Responded to the Drop?
- Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ) futures have climbed on the back of the US’ tighter supply.
- Prices are currently sat at 130.5c/lb, a level not reached since September last year.
- However, it’s not just the tighter US supply that’s hit domestic prices.
- Intense competition for fresh oranges from South Africa, Israel and Australia has played a part, as has the competition for FCOJ from Brazil.
What Does This Mean for Exports?
- Although production is weaker year-on-year, the US managed to export 4.35m gallons of FCOJ by May, down just 52k tonnes year-on-year.
- Most of this went to Canada, the Dominican Republic and South Korea, as was the case in 2020.
- However, with Floridian production down by so much, we may see export flows reduce in the second half of the year.
- Most of California’s production is used to satisfy domestic demand, and Texas does not produce enough to fill such a void.
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