Orange juice consumption fell 5% in 2012

Unwavering tendency since the beginning of the last decade, the fall of the global consumption of orange juice deepened in 2012, as recently completed study by the Center for research and Projects in Marketing and strategy (Markestrat) from data of the Swedish multinational company Tetra Pak containers and Euromonitor.
Coordinated by Marcos Fava Neves, professor at the Faculty of Economics and Administration (FEA) of the University of São Paulo (USP) in Ribeirão Preto, the survey, commissioned by the National Association of manufacturers of Citrus juices (CitrusBR), shows that the retraction in the main consuming countries of 40 us commodity was 4.7% in 2011, to 2.127 million tons.
The Brazilian juice exporters (Cutrale, Citrosuco/Citrovita and Louis Dreyfus Commodities) knew that the downward trend had not been interrupted and felt your reflexes in exports of 2012. But the size of the reduction surprised.
It was the largest annual decline since the beginning of the series, in 2003. From there until 2012, the total consumption of orange juice in the markets surveyed only grew in 2009 (1%), and the retraction in the reached 12.3%. In the countries of North America, the low he accumulated 27%; in Europe, the main destination for Brazilian exports, reached 11%.
As the data make it clear, the demand retraction movement began before the global financial crisis deepened by the breaking of the American Bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Is linked above all to the proliferation of cheaper competitors that drinks orange juice, as soft drinks and Nectars from different flavors – and, in this context, the crisis caught any reaction. For businesses, the breath is that many of these soft drinks and Nectars also include orange juice in its composition.
Although, in these cases, the percentages of orange juice in the formulas to be smaller than the 100% drink, exported by Brazil in its concentrated form and frozen (FCOJ, the acronym in English) or ready to drink (NFC), the demand associated to them limits the retractions of commodity consumption.
In this sense, says Ibiapaba Netto, Executive Director of CitrusBR, the exporters received with optimism the latest data on China. The Markestrat study points out that, despite a low in comparison to 2011 (1.9%), Chinese consumption of soft drinks in General in 2012 was 13.549 billion litres, 4.4 times that of 2003. The consumption of soft drinks "Orange flavor" surpassed 5 billion liters.
In the case of 100% juices and Nectars of various flavors, which are more expensive than soft drinks, consumption in China is still more "modest". In 2012, were 317 million liters of NECTARS (175 million Orange flavor) and 414 million litres of 100% juices (199 million orange). 100% juices statistics, Nectars and soft drinks for the category "multifruit", where the Orange flavor also takes part.
In 40 countries that make up the study of Markestrat, the total consumption of 100% juices reached 71.152 billion (19.045 billion orange) in 2012; the nectars, 11.398 billion liters (1.812 billion Orange flavor) and the refreshments in General, 40.709 billion liters (11.508 billion litres with orange included).
In the u.s., the consumption of soft drinks in General is lower than that of China-were 7.081 billion gallons in 2012, 1.593 billion with "something"-Orange, but the total of NECTARS is greater (975 million liters, 47 million of Orange) and the 100% juices, the largest in the world, leaves the bulk of the Asian country "to shame" (5.802 billion liters3.191 billion, orange).
Hence why the tumble American consumption of orange juice in all their uses pulled the fall of 4.7% in consolidated results of 40 major commodity markets in 2012. In the year, the retraction in the u.s. was 11% on 2011, to 708 tons. From 2003 to 2012, the low was 29%.
As ponders Ibiapaba Netto, although the trend of decline in consumption in the United States in the last decade is the most acute, the curve became steeper in 2012 because of the crisis of carbendazim in the first half.
Banned in the country, the use of the fungicide has been identified in imported cargoes of Brazil, Brazilian exports and locks has sparked discussions involving large companies of soft drinks and temporarily frightened away consumers also for plant health fears.
Among other reductions in consumption observed in 2012, the CitrusBR proved to be particularly concerned about the of Germany, the second largest consumer in the world, behind the us. Although Germany is in a better financial position than other European countries, the volume fell 8% from 2011, to 170 thousand tons.
From 2003 to 2012, the retraction came to 34%. The low accelerated in the second half of last year, when climate problems in Florida and the proliferation of greening in orchards in the State caused the high juice prices on the international market.