NEW YORK: Orange juice futures finished up on Wednesday, ending a six-session losing streak, as bargain hunting and strength in other commodities triggered buying after its pullback from record high.
Benchmark March frozen concentrated orange juice rose 2.15 cents to close at $1.8610 per lb, trading from $1.8100 to $1.9395 - a one-week high.
A rally in crude oil, gold and agricultural commodities led by soy boosted buying sentiment in the citrus market, which had been pressured by the continued unwinding of bullish bets, analysts said.
The market has lost around a fifth of its value since March hit an all-time high of $2.2695 about two weeks ago due to speculation that the United States might ban Brazilian juice imports.
The market continued to pull back from the record highs after fears eased that imports of Brazilian juice may be banned due to the presence of a fungicide prohibited in the United States.
Brazil is the world's top citrus producer, accounting for half of all US juice imports and 10 percent of all US supplies. Brazilian juice is used by leading US producers such as Pepsico's Tropicana and Coca Cola's Minute Maid in a blend with oranges from Florida.
Traders said that with retail demand at a stagnant level, there seems little anxiety in the market over the Brazilian imports.
Investors have been reducing their exposure in the juice market. Open interest, an indicator of investor presence in the market, has dropped about 10 percent to 24,027 lots as of Tuesday versus its peak two weeks ago, ICE Futures US data showed.
Volume on Wednesday totaled 3,600 lots late in New York business, almost 35 percent above the 30-day norm, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed.
On Tuesday, the exchange said, 2,059 lots changed hands.
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