Orange Juice Futures

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Orange Juice Futures Markets

Frozen concentrated orange Juice futures, commonly known as FCOJ futures, have a long and rich history in the Americas and around the world. The widely consumed drink plays a significant role in the commodities futures markets landscape, comparable to other soft commodities futures products such as sugar, coffee, and cocoa futures.

FCOJ Futures History

FCOJ futures began trading in 1966 on the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT). Prior to 1947, the traditional form of consumption for orange juice was fresh-squeezed; therefore, the commercial orange juice industry was constantly contending with the highly perishable nature of freshly squeezed oranges. Often, supply shocks were both quick and severe. The invention of frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) in 1947 brought a new standard to the orange juice industry, opening the gates to an international marketplace that was not readily available before.

FCOJ Facts

FCOJ Futures are another commodity futures product more susceptible to weather than most. Hurricanes, freezes and tropical storms can cause the FCOJ futures market to rally dramatically if they hit at the right time. More than 98 percent of the U.S. crop comes from Florida, and the geographic concentration can lead to extremely volatile trading in the orange juice futures markets during the June-December hurricane season. The United States and Brazil outpace all others in orange juice production and are therefore very influential on the price of orange juice futures prices.

A tree can take as long as 15 years to reach maturity. Any damage to mature trees can affect orange supplies, and in turn, FCOJ futures prices, for years.

In recent years, citrus canker and citrus greening have been cutting into the yields of orange juice producing regions.

Orange Juice Futures Trading

FCOJ futures are traded at the InterContinental Exchange (ICE), formerly the NYBOT, formerly the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (CSCE).
At ICE, FCOJ futures produce the second-lowest volume of all soft commodities futures products traded on the exchange.
In FCOJ futures, each one cent move equals $150. Traded months in the commodity futures contract are January, March, May, July, September and November.
FCOJ futures (and options) are employed by end users, producers and speculators to offset or benefit from large orange juice futures price moves.

You can learn more about Soft futures by downloading our guide, Free Fundamentals of Trading Soft Futures.