Reduced orange production will require more imports
The reduced 2006 Florida orange crop attributed to residual damage from last year's hurricanes will require a significant increase in imported orange products, a state economist told the Florida Citrus Commission on Wednesday.
Dr. Mark Brown, an economist with the Florida Department of Citrus, told the commission the reduced production this year will require major juice suppliers to import 21 percent more juice or concentrate to account for the production shortfall.
Brown said that globally, the reduced production from Florida will mean the world's juice supply will be down 7 percent. He also said the smaller crop will cause U.S. retail prices for juice to increase around 50 cents a gallon.