The decline in the US supply caused by the effects of Hurricane Irma on Florida plantations is an opportunity for Central American producers.
The international price of concentrated orange juice increased by 24% between early July this year and October 3, going from $1.25 per pound of solids to $1.55.Producers of the fruit in Costa Rica even believe that the price could rise more in the coming weeks.
The projected 16% drop in orange production in the state of Florida in the 2015-16 season will drive up the international price of fruit concentrate.
The Department of Agriculture reported that orange production in Florida will be reduced by up to 90 million cases in the 2015-2016 season, 16% less than in the previous season, when 96.8 million cases were produced.
Grupo Pellas and Grupo Motta have bought a majority share of the orange and pineapple processing firm Ticofruit.
From a statement published on the website of Grupo Pellas:
The July 15, 2014, the groups Pellas of Nicaragua and Panama Motta have jointly acquired through the affiliate Pelmot Investments SA, a majority stake in the company Rivara Holding, SA, a holding / controlling company of TicoFrut, SA ("TicoFrut" ).
Price rises are estimated due to the 25% reduction in exports from Brazil and the decline of 28% in the orange crops in the United States.
From a statement issued by the Foreign Trade Promotion Office of Costa Rica (Procomer):
In the first half of 2014, exports of Brazilian orange juice showed a significant drop. Up until May, exports totaled 375,000 tons, down 25% compared to the same period in 2013.
A new technology has been developed which reduces the moisture emitted by fruits and vegetables when processing dry products.
From a press release issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office:
Taura Natural Ingredients, a company which is a world leader in concentrated fruit products, has developed a series of products such as fruit pieces, flakes and pastes using Ultra Rapid Concentration (URC ®).
The decline in the U.S. supply caused by the effects of a pest in plantations in Florida, creates opportunities for Central American producers.
An attack of the yellow dragon disease in plantations in the state of Florida, the second largest supplier of orange juice, caused a decrease in supply resulting in a price increase. While last December the product was trading on the U.S stock market for $1.35 per pound of solids up until last Monday was the price stood at $1.47.
The new rules include packaged foods with high levels of nutrients considered critical such as salt, sugar, saturated fat and calories.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The undersecretary of Public Health in Chile, Jorge Diaz, has unveiled the new rules in the law on food labeling. The document sets out how warnings should be placed on packaged foods with high levels of nutrients considered critical, such as salt, sugar, saturated fat and calories, the rules of which will be subject to public consultation on the website of the Ministry of Health.
Given the great threat to citrus fruits posed by the Huanglongbing plague, a project is being planned to strengthen control of the pest and for the implementation of integrated pest management for citrus fruits.
From a statement from the International Regional Organization for Animal Health (OIRSA):
The Government of China (Taiwan) and the OIRSA have signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen technical and financial control of the Citrus Huanglongbing pest and integrated pest management in the region.
The United States has zero tolerance for the presence of chemicals like carbendazim, detected in two shipments of orange juice exported from Costa Rica.
The fungicide is used to fight orange fungus. News of the rejection of these two shipments was published on the U.S. government’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website on April 5 and on a bulletin at the Nasdaq stock market.
The next harvest season could be complicated, as several agricultural sectors expect the labor supply will decrease.
The growth of construction sector in Nicaragua has been a good thing for the country but not for its neighbor Costa Rica, because the Costa Rican agricultural sector normally uses labor from Nicaragua at fruit harvesting time, especially for coffee, pineapple, melon and sugarcane.
The price per pound has climbed to $1.36, after a series of frosts affected orange plantations in Florida, U.S.
Carlos Odio, head of Tico Fruit, one of Costa Rica's largest exporters of the product, added that the price has been rising since November, recording a high of $1.5 per pound on December.
Odio told Nacion.com: "Between 4% and 6% of Florida's plantations were affected.
The Huanglonbing virus (HLB) attacks persian and key Lime trees, orange, grapefruit and tangerine.
Countries from the region are designing a strategy to prevent the outbreak of the virus, also known as Greenning's Disease.
Gisela Tapia is an expert from Oirsa, the Regional Agriculture Health Organism. She warned that "if there isn't a prevention program, in 5 years Guatemala and the rest of Mesoamerica could lose their entire citrus production", reported Prensalibre.com.
Orange scraps show the promise of producing ethanol at reasonable prices and Central America, a leading producer of citrus, can benefit.
For several years, the Agricultural Research Service of the Department of Agriculture in the United States has been carrying out a project to investigate the technical and economic feasibility of producing ethanol from orange juice processing leftovers which are now almost given away.