AgWeb.com. 6:30 AM
- Oct 11, 2000 EDT
A recent report by the Florida Dept. of Citrus (FDOC) took an in-depth look
at how U.S. trade with Cuba would impact the citrus industry. Here’s a
summary of their findings…
Cuba’s orange industry is relatively small, with their orange
production accounting for about 1% of the world’s production and their OJ
production accounting for about 1.2% of aggregate Cuban, U.S. and Brazil OJ
production. Cuban OJ is made largely from Valencia oranges, and may be demanded
in the U.S. for blending purposes.
Cuba would be expected to be a price taker for OJ, with OJ prices for
different quality product being largely determined by the availability of OJ
from Brazil and Florida. Cuban fresh orange exports to the U.S. would appear to
be limited due to the large availability of fresh oranges and specialty citrus
from California and Florida.
On the other hand, Cuba’s grapefruit production accounts for about 8%
of world production, and potential Cuban fresh grapefruit and GJ exports to the
U.S. could significantly impact the Florida citrus industry. It was estimated
that for each million cartons of fresh grapefruit that Cuba might put in the
U.S. market, the FOB price for Florida fresh grapefruit would decrease by about
$.17 per carton. In recent years, Cuba has been exporting about 2 million
cartons to all destinations. Similarly, it was estimated that for each million
SSE gallons of Cuban GJ exports to the U.S. market, the Florida delivered-in
price for GJ would decrease by about $.01 per pound solids.
Average Cuban GJ exports to all destinations have been about 21 million SSE
gallons in recent years. The price analysis in this study has been based on a
partial analysis, focusing only on putting additional supplies in the U.S.
market. Full impacts would depend on supplies and demands in the interrelated
world markets for fresh and processed grapefruit products.
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