+Info   The orange tree is a semi-tropical, non-deciduous tree, and the fruit is technically a hesperidium, a kind of berry. The three major varieties of oranges include the sweet orange, the sour orange, and the mandarin orange (or tangerine). In the U.S., only sweet oranges are grown commercially. Those include Hamlin, Jaffa, navel, Pineapple, blood orange, and Valencia. Sour oranges are mainly used in marmalade and in liqueurs such as triple sec and curacao.

Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ) was developed in 1945, which led to oranges becoming the main fruit crop in the U.S. The world's largest producer of orange juice is Brazil, followed by Florida. Two to four medium-sized oranges will produce about 1 cup of juice, and modern mechanical extractors can remove the juice from 400 to 700 oranges per minute. Before juice extraction, orange oil is recovered from the peel. Approximately 50% of the orange weight is juice, the remainder is peel, pulp, and seeds, which are dried to produce nutritious cattle feed.

The U.S. marketing year for oranges begins December 1 of the first year shown (e.g., the 2005-06 marketing year extends from December 1, 2005 to November 30, 2006). Orange juice futures prices are subject to upward spikes during the U.S. hurricane season (officially June 1 to November 30), and the Florida freeze season (late-November through March).

Frozen concentrate orange juice futures and options are traded at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The ICE orange juice futures contract calls for the delivery of 15,000 pounds of orange solids and is priced in terms of cents per pound.

Prices - ICE frozen concentrate orange juice (FCOJ) futures prices (Barchart.com symbol OJ) posted their high for 2017 in January at 199.30 cents. FCOJ prices ratcheted lower into Q2-2017 and posted a 1-3/4 year low of 124.95 cents in July as supply concerns eased and demand weakened. The USDA reported that Brazil's 2016/17 orange production increased by +27% yr/yr to 18.197 MMT and that U.S. orange juice consumption fell -7.4% yr/yr to 339.56 million gallons Oct-1 to Jul 8. Prices stabilized and moved higher into November after Hurricane Irma devastated Florida's orange groves. The USDA in December cut its 2017/18 Florida orange crop estimate to a 72-year low of 46 million boxes, down -33% yr/yr. FCOJ prices fell back from their best levels on weak demand and increased output from Brazil. U.S. orange juice consumption sank -7.6% yr/yr to 429.13 million gallons in the year through September 30 and Brazil's 2017/18 orange production was estimated at 385.2 million boxes, up +57% yr/yr. FCOJ prices finished 2017 down -31.3% yr/yr at 136.00 cents.

Supply - World production of oranges in the 2016/17 marketing year rose +6.8% yr/yr to 50.186 million metric tons. The world's largest producers of oranges in 2016/17 marketing year are forecasted to be Brazil with 38.3% of world production, followed by the U.S. with 9.2% and Mexico with 8.7%.

U.S. production of oranges in 2016/17 fell -15.1% yr/yr to 120.420 million boxes (1 box equals 90 lbs). Florida's production in 2016/17 fell -14.0% yr/yr to 68.750 million boxes and California's production fell -15.9% to 50.300 million boxes.

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