Due to the cold wave in the South, Southeast and in some areas of the Central-West in Brazil in late June, some citrus producing regions in São Paulo, Paraná and in the south of Minas Gerais registered frosts on June 26. In spite of that, only some areas were affected and producers are still evaluating if there are impacts.

Players surveyed by Cepea say that major concerns are about the tahiti lime, since low temperatures may affect the fruit color in this period of limited supply. As for ponkan tangerine, frosts in this period can accelerate fruit droppage. Moreover, the cold weather may also affect the colour of the fruit.

Prices

The proximity of the new crop continues to press down orange quotations in the natura market – the supply of early fruits is higher. Prices of pear oranges in the in natura market were at BRL 60.48 per 40.8 kg box, on tree, between June 23 and 27, downing 4.1 % compared to that in the previous period.

As for tahiti lime, the price average from June 23-27 is BRL 40.16 per 27.2 kg box, moving down 1.9 % in the same comparison.

Florida

The report released in June by the USDA indicates that the 2024/25 orange crop in Florida is likely to total 12 million 40.8 kg boxes, upping 370 thousand boxes in relation to that released in the May report, but still 33.5 % smaller compared to the season before (2023/24).

Exports

Brazilian shipments of orange juice in the partial of the current season (2024/25 – from July/24 to May/25) continue below the volume registered in the same period of previous crops.

So far, Brazil shipped 730.948 thousand tons of OJ (equivalent to concentrate juice – 66º Brix), which is 22.4 % smaller than that in the same period of the season before (from July/23 to May/24) – data from Comexstat. It is worth noting that, in the first 11 months of previous crops, the volume was close to 1 million tons. The combination of lower quality and high prices have been limiting exports.

The revenue, in turn, continues to grow, boosted by high prices paid for the commodity, especially at the beginning of the season. In the partial of the 2024/25 crop, the revenue has totaled USD 3.285 billion, 33.1 % up in relation to that verified in the same period of the 2023/24 season.

Although the harvesting of the 2020/21 orange crop is advancing in Brazil, delivery to processors in São Paulo State (SP) was slow in November. According to Cepea collaborators, this scenario is linked to the lack of rains in the citrus-producing regions in SP in the last months, which limited both quality and supply, hampering activities at processing plants. On the other hand, rainfall in late November increased ratio and brix, favoring the juice produced in that period.

As regards the deals for the coming season (2021/22), the large-sized processors of orange juice in SP have been more interested in closing deals. However, bids have not been fixed and there may be an additional for participation in juice sales to the international market. Most citrus farmers are waiting for a better definition of the crop, since it seems the bad weather conditions this year may affect results.

SPOT – In the current season, large-sized processors are bidding prices up to 24.00 BRL per 40.8-kilo box, while bids from smaller-sized processors have been up to 28.00 BRL/box – late and pear oranges account for the most varieties processed. In November (until Nov. 26), prices averaged 24.46 BRL/box, 20.7 % up from the average in Nov/19, in nominal terms.

However, it is worth to mention that one of the large-sized processors was not closing deals in the spot market in November because of both the low supply of higher quality and larger-sized fruits and the competition with the domestic market, since prices have been attractive in this segment, and farmers are opting for selling fruits in natura.