(Bloomberg) -- Orange juice futures rose for a second straight day as production in Florida is seen shrinking after Hurricane Milton knocked fruit from branches and left citrus trees lying on the ground.
More than three million boxes of oranges may have been lost since the powerful storm moved through key citrus-producing counties last week, industry consultant Judy Ganes said. That means the next Florida harvest will likely turn into the worst since the late 1920s, she added.
The most-active orange juice contract climbed as much as 3.3% on Monday in New York. Prices touched a record high last month on the back of tight global supplies and a drought that slashed production in the world’s top exporter Brazil.
Florida is the country’s biggest grower of oranges for juice and the second largest orange-producing state in the US after California. Milton came as the state’s growers were counting on a turnaround after making progress in battling citrus greening disease that has decimated groves, and as trees were beginning to recover from Hurricane Ian two years ago.
The setback was also accompanied by a weaker than expected forecast for Florida’s crop. Even before accounting for the damages from Milton, the US Department of Agriculture on Friday estimated the state’s orange output at 15 million boxes in its first forecast for the 2024/25 crop year. That’s already the worst crop since 1933.
The USDA data also indicated no meaningful improvement in the size of fruit, which the industry looks to as a sign of how healthy crops are. Greening can result in smaller oranges.
“We hoped there had been better sizing of the oranges and less fruit drop,” Ganes said. “As it turns out, the number of pieces to fill a box has increased.”
--With assistance from Ilena Peng.
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