US: Orange juice futures extend slump
The Florida groves escaped cold weather damage over winter. U.S. retailers sold 252.23 million gallons (954.8 liters) of orange juice since Oct. 1, down 11 percent from a year earlier, the Florida Department of Citrus said on April 2.
"There’s a lack of any weather threat," Sterling Smith, a market analyst for Country Hedging, a broker in St. Paul Minnesota, said. "Demand has been suffering since the early 2000s."
Orange juice for May delivery plunged 5 percent to $1.3965 a pound at 11:04 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, after touching $1.391, the lowest for a most-active contract since Sept. 9, 2010. Prices have plunged 38 percent from a record $2.2695 on Jan. 23, as concerns eased that a U.S. probe would lead to a ban on imports containing a banned fungicide.
Hedge funds and other speculators reduced their net-long positions, or bets that prices will rise, to 5,879 futures and options contracts on April 3 from 8,764 on March 20, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Inventories held by the three biggest producers in Brazil will more than double to 535,000 metric tons on June 30, a Brazilian industry group has said.
Source: www.businessweek.com
