Commodity Blog

Orange juice futures are surging midweek as the market has been active in buying the commodity. What felt like prolonged agony, orange juice prices have been soaring in recent weeks, climbing as high as 20% year-to-date. Can orange juice maintain the momentum?

July orange juice futures advanced $0.035, or 2.17%, to $1.649 per pound at 16:18 GMT on Wednesday on the US ICE Futures exchange. Prices are hovering above their 20- and 100-day moving averages, and this could provide a boon for long bullish traders.

Orange juice is trading at its best level since the beginning of December. If it continues its ascent, and perhaps touches the crucial $1.70 mark, then orange juice could record a weekly gain.

Despite reports that Brazil’s orange output is offsetting the long-term lackluster production from Florida, traders have been concerned about the growing conditions in the South American nation. Investors are beginning to pay attention to the weather conditions in Brazil and the rest of the continent.

It is also being reported that year-on-year citrus inventories in Florida are higher, but production is still at multi-year lows. Last month, orange crop levels in the Sunshine State plunged to a 75-year low.

The market is showing buyer interest in orange juice and there appears to be very little seller interest.

Consumer demand remains to be a considerable hurdle for orange farmers to overcome. Earlier this year, US sales spiked for the first time since 2010 in response to the nationwide flu outbreak. Since then, momentum has stalled, and orange juice sales have returned to the status quo.

In other agricultural commodities, July corn futures dipped $0.025, or 0.06%, to $4.03 per pound. July wheat futures plummeted $0.075, 1.51%, to $5.06 per bushel. July soybeans futures tumbled $0.0625, or 0.61%, to $10.137 a bushel.

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