Brazil: Insufficient rain affects orange sizes

In the first six months of the growing season, it rained accordingly to expectations of citrus producers from São Paulo. But since March, there has not been much rain and producers are worried, according to Cepea investigators. The relatively dry weather at the moment, limits the growth of the fruit, and isn't reaching the ideal size for commerce of fresh fruit, nor for the industry. According to producers consulted by Cepea, the first fruit that was harvested (early varieties) already present signs of insufficient rain. There's the fear that the fruit to be harvested in the coming months will also be smaller than expected, if rain continues to be insufficient. This would impact the total amount of São Paulo production - more fruit would be needed to fill a box.

In Florida (US), the lack of rain is also a reason for concerns. According to a weather report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), published on 23 of April, the drought in the citrus area of Florida is in the East Coast and takes the biggest part of West Coast.

Regarding the internal market for the table orange, according to the agents consulted by Cepea, they say that many of the offered fruits still don't have the ideal maturity. This affected sales by pressuring quotations, in general.