NEW YORK: Orange juice futures finished lower on Wednesday on sales by small speculators as the market consolidated in range-bound trade after prices dropped last week to the lowest in 1-1/2 years, analysts said.
Key July frozen concentrated orange juice fell 1.40 cents to close at $1.4565 per lb after trading from $1.4505 to $1.488.
Country Hedging Inc. analyst Sterling Smith said the market seems to be establishing a band running from $1.40 to $1.50, basis July.
"I would look for (more) range trade in juice," he said.
Last Wednesday, the contract finished at $1.417 after bottoming at $1.3835. That marked the lowest close for the spot juice contract since Sept. 3, 2010, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The trade monitored weather conditions in Florida, the country's leading citrus producer.
Smith said storm premium buying normally seen during hurricane season may not get going until possibly late July or August since most storms which strike Florida's citrus groves do not menace the region until then.
Volume traded on Wednesday amounted to around 2,250 lots, slightly under the 30-day norm, preliminary Thomson Reuters data showed.
Open interest, an indicator of investor exposure, fell for the first time in five sessions to stand at 20,296 lots as of April 17, ICE Futures US data showed.
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