Exports of orange juice from Brazil fall 11 percent from July to February, says CitrusBR

SAO PAULO (Reuters)-total exports of orange juice from Brazil, the largest global exporter of the product, fell 11% between July and February 2018 2019 in comparison with the same period of the previous season, reported on Thursday the Association of CitrusBR exporters. According to the data, exports in the period totaled 666,520 tonnes 2018/19 season (juice concentrate, frozen, equivalent to 66° brix), for a turnover of nearly 1.25 billion dollars, smaller than the 8% added in the first eight months of the harvest/2017 18. The Association reported that registered the biggest fall occurred in shipments to the United States, which had 27% reduction, to 139,538 tons, while the European Union, the world's largest consumer, imported 423,069 tons, retracting 6 by cent. " This fall for the North American market is due to the recovery of the crop in Florida, after a period seriously affected by the effects of Hurricane Irma ", said in a statement the Executive Director of CitrusBR, Ibiapaba Netto. "In a way, this fall already was expected." Another important reduction occurred in exports to the Chinese market--this, of 10%. According to Netto, Brazil lost space for local production in the country and for export of countries like Cyprus and Spain. " There are customs rules that hinder operations in bulk and take the competitiveness of Brazilian juice in relation to nearest suppliers in that country, "he said, adding that the Ministry of agriculture is working to resolve the issues. "We hope that it will be possible to reach an agreement with the Chinese authorities, because our associates (Cutrale and Citrosuco, Louis Dreyfus) have great interest in the Chinese market." DIVISÃOSegundo the CitrusBR, shipments of frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ), which is the main variety exported, accumulated reduction of 17,5%, with 469,503 tons, fall about 100,000 tons before 2017/18. Turnover amounted to 886 million dollars, leaving the House opposition to 1 billion dollars. Only for the US, the retraction in the trade of the product was almost 50%, dropping just over 117,000 tons in the previous season to about 61000 tons in the current. Negative numbers are partially offset by exports of orange juice-concentrate (NFC), which advanced 12,1% during the period, reaching 198,000 tons and 362 million dollars. "The NFC has grown consistently over the past few years," commented Ibiapaba Netto. "In Europe, for example, the use of NFC juice in refrigerated places, enough to grow 4% a year, according to data from the Association of European Fruit juices. This shows that consumers have shown interest in this type of product", completed the Executive Director.