The Brazilian exports of frozen concentrate orange juice (FCOJ) Equivalent (2019/20 crop) are ending, and the volume sold to all destinations continues higher than that last season.

From July/19 to May/20, Brazil shipped 1.03 million tonnes of juice, 13% more than that exported in the first 11 months of the 2018/19 season (913.4 thousand tonnes), according to data from Secex.

To the European Union, specifically, Brazilian juice shipments totalled 723.7 thousand tonnes, 23% up compared to that in the same period last season (587.7 thousand tonnes). To the United States, Brazilian exports have decreased by 19% this season, to 154.5 thousand tonnes.

Low demand explains the decrease in the volume sent to the US, due to the forecast for a recovery in the 2019/20 season in Florida for the second consecutive year. The state has faced several problems involving weather and plant health this season and in previous crops. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, juice sales in the American retail market have increased significantly – data from Nielsen indicate that, this season (from October/19 to April 11, 2020), the volume sold was 6.1% higher than that in the same period of the crop before.

In this scenario, local juice stocks are being consumed. Although inventories are higher than that in the season before, projections indicating an increase in stocks are lower than those at the beginning of the year. Cepea