BRASILIA: Brazilian stocks of orange juice in the 2017/18 crop are expected to double from the previous crop due to higher production, the association of local juice processors CitrusBR said on Wednesday.
Stocks are projected to reach 254,200 tonnes (frozen, concentrated orange juice equivalent) by June, 137 percent more than in the same period in the 2016/17 crop. The numbers consider juice stocked in Brazil and in importing countries. Brazil’s industry-type orange crop in 2017/18 should reach 385.2 million boxes (40.8 kg), 57 percent more than the weak previous season, according to research body Fundecitrus. Ibiapaba Netto, executive director of CitrusBR, said that the larger crop allowed increased exports in the period from July to January. Total shipments increased 20 percent to 651,300 tonnes compared with the same period a year earlier. Exports to the United States increased 34 percent to 163,000 tonnes, as American juice industries tried to compensate for reduced local output due to Hurricane Irma.
