DJ ICE FCOJ Review: March Falls 2% As Traders Book Profits

March orange juice futures fell Thursday as traders booked profits as prices had risen steeply in recent sessions.March orange juice traded on ICE Futures U.S. fell 2.85 cents, or 2%, to settle at $1.4330 a pound.

The contract topped out a three-week high of $1.4780 before traders began to sell. In fact, March orange juice has gained 11% since hitting its lows on Jan. 19. Speculation over how much of the Florida orange crop was lost to the mid-January freeze was responsible for the more than week-long rally. Despite the profit-taking setback Thursday, the crop loss worries are expected to keep a base of support in the market, brokers said.

Because of the damage inflicted to the crop, orange juice giant Minute Maid told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday it will raise its North American chilled orange juice prices by 6% to 9% in April. Growers in Florida and agriculture officials are currently surveying the groves to determine the extent of the damage.

Market participants say losses to the Florida orange crop could run from 3 million boxes to as high as 7 million boxes, which would represent a 2.2% and 5.2% loss to the total crop. The U.S. Agriculture Department estimates the 2009-10 crop at 135 million boxes, down 17% from the previous season and the second smallest crop in a decade.

The USDA won’t issue its initial assessment of crop losses until its Feb. 9 crop production report. Total losses may not be known until March, brokers said.

Source : FutureSource