The oranges will run out in 2024. Due to the high temperatures and diseased trees, the fruits are becoming increasingly rare, which is why some manufacturers now want to use other fruits to produce orange juice.
The global orange shortage caused by drought, disease and rising demand has caused prices to skyrocket, according to a Fox Business report, forcing orange juice producers to look for alternatives.
In April, the world market price for oranges reached a shocking €3.40 per pound, an increase of about 33 percent compared to the previous year and an impressive 210 percent increase since January 2021.
Ted Jenkin, CEO and co-founder of oXYGen Financial, is quoted by Fox Business as saying, “There are three main factors driving up the price of orange juice: drought, disease and demand.”
Florida and Brazil, the main producers of oranges, in particular, have suffered severe declines in production. In Brazil, which accounts for about 70 percent of global production, orange trees are plagued by the so-called citrus greening disease, which causes the fruit to become small, misshapen and bitter. The disease is incurable and causes infected trees to die within a few years, according to Fox Business.
Fundecitrus and CitrusBR predict that Brazil will only produce 232.4 million boxes of oranges in the 2024-2025 season due to severe heat waves, drought and the greening disease. This represents a drastic decline of 25 percent compared to the previous cycle. If this prediction comes true, it would be the second smallest harvest since 1988-1989. This is also reported by “n-tv”.
In Florida, however, hurricanes and greening disease are affecting oranges. Producers could therefore switch to another fruit, such as mandarins, whose trees are more resistant to the disease, but the process could take a long time. This is problematic, as the frozen juice reserves that are currently being used are slowly running out.
Meanwhile, according to “n-tv”, the prices for orange juice are rising rapidly internationally. The price recently reached a new high on the New York futures exchange ICE, doubling within a year.
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