The world’s largest producer and exporter of orange juice is faced with one of its worst orange harvests in more than three decades. Reports show a 24 % decline in orange harvests with the countries producing 232.4 million boxes of oranges in the 2024 to 2025 season.
Climate change has been blamed for the decline in crop production with experts noting that extreme weather events in the country, including heat waves, flooding, and drought are to blame. There has also been a citrus disease known as greening, an untreatable bacterial infection of citrus trees that results in bitter, stunted fruit that cannot be sold to consumers.
About 40 percent of Brazilian plantations are affected by the greening disease, with no short-term solution in sight. Price hikes have spurred several orange juice manufacturers and blenders to look into whether alternative fruits, such as mandarins, apples, and pears, may be used to dilute the drink.
The tree bacteria has also been reported in other parts of the world – the “Sunshine State” of Florida in the US has also reported that greening has severely hampered orange production. The International Fruit and Vegetable Juice Association says production of orange juice in Florida has dropped to about 17 million boxes, down from 242 million boxes 20 years ago.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service reported a 1% decline in orange production last year due to the lower availability of fruit for processing. Earlier this week, frozen concentrated orange juice futures, traded on the Intercontinental Exchange in New York, closing at $4.29 per pound – nearly double the price registered a year ago.
Many citizens of the European Union and the United States of America have reportedly ditched Orange juice as a staple due to shortages, with orange juice consumption also falling by up to 25 percent in major global markets. Agri-economists say as the price gets high, people consider other alternatives, like energy drinks, smoothies, and other beverages.
The reason for the poor quality of crops has been attributed to climate change. In Florida, U.S. Extreme weather conditions affected orange production by 62 percent in the 2022-2023 season after Hurricane Ian further battered a crop that was already struggling due to an invasive pest.
Meanwhile, South Africa also points to extreme weather conditions as the reason for slower production while the effects of climate change on citrus production could set back Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia that grow oranges in specific regions.
Conflict in Europe and now the Middle East is hurting most commodities. The rising costs of cultivating, processing, and providing orange juice have affected both concentrate and non-concentrate lines, generating a shortage, which has had an obvious impact on consumer pricing.
Below are the 15 countries that paid the most for imported oranges in 2022.
France: US$416.9 million (7.9% of total imported oranges)
Germany: $410.2 million (7.8%)
Netherlands: $378.6 million (7.2%)
United States: $269.9 million (5.1%)
Hong Kong: $244.5 million (4.6%)
China: $228.2 million (4.3%)
Canada: $225.5 million (4.3%)
Russia: $218.5 million (4.1%)
United Kingdom: $211.4 million (4%)
South Korea: $164 million (3.1%)
Saudi Arabia: $144.9 million (2.8%)
Italy: $135.9 million (2.6%)
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