Orange-juice futures fell Thursday as a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged the 2017-2018 Florida orange crop at 54 million boxes, down 21% from last season. That would be the lowest level in 71 years, according to a report from Bloomberg. Given the price decline, it appears that “traders were anticipating the effects of citrus greening and Hurricane Irma to reduce production even more,” said Darin Newsom, senior analyst at DTN. But “keep in mind this is an initial production estimate, with many more to come. Reductions can still be seen,” he said. The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association had estimated that 70% to 80% of citrus production in South Florida was lost to Hurricane Irma, which made landfall in south Florida on Sept. 10. November frozen concentrated orange juice declined by nearly 4 cents, or 2.3%, to $1.588 a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange. Prices, which were trading higher at $1.638 before the report, have gained about 8% month to date, but still trade roughly 17% lower for the year.
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