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| 06-29-2010
Florida’s orange crop, the world’s second-largest, will be 1.5 percent bigger than projected in May as “ideal” weather boosts production of late-season fruit, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
Output will total 133.6 million boxes in the harvest ending in July, more than analysts expected and up from last month’s forecast of 131.6 million boxes, the USDA said in a report today. About 162.5 million boxes were collected last season.
“The estimates have been conservative and the conditions have been quite decent as of late,” Stephanie Kinard, an analyst at Intermarkt Investment Strategists in Chicago, said before the report. “Also, Florida hasn’t had any storms knock out crops.”
The average estimate of seven analysts in a Bloomberg News survey was for a crop of 132.1 million boxes. A box of oranges weighs 90 pounds, or 41 kilograms.
“Typical Florida summer weather patterns returned during the month of May with an ideal mix of precipitation and sunshine in the citrus-producing areas,” the USDA said in the report.
The department’s estimate is down from its original projection in October for a crop of 136 million boxes.
Orange-juice futures for July delivery fell 0.45 cent, or 0.3 percent, to $1.3785 a pound yesterday on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The commodity jumped 59 percent in the past year on forecasts for a smaller Florida crop.
The USDA kept its yield projection unchanged from last month’s estimate of 1.55 gallons per box.
Read the original article from Bloomberg.