Florida’s orange crop, the world’s largest after Brazil, may be damaged by an overnight frost, said Anthony Chipriano, a meteorologist at MDA Information Systems Inc.
“There is a hard-freeze warning from tonight through tomorrow morning in most parts of Florida,” Rockville, Maryland-based Chipriano said. Temperatures could fall to as low as 21 degree Fahrenheit (-6 degree Celsius) in some areas, he said.
Prices of orange juice surged to a three-year high earlier this month after Florida declared a state of emergency amid severe cold and the prospects of crop damage. Last year, the state produced the second-smallest crop in two decades after a cold snap in January damaged fruit.
Orange-juice futures for March delivery jumped 4.65 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $1.686 a pound at 1:44 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Prices touched $1.706 on Dec. 13, the highest since May 2007. Before today, the commodity gained 27 percent this year.
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