Markets

NY juice ends lower on investor sales, switch trade

Published Updated

The spot November frozen concentrated orange juice futures fell 0.55 cent to close at $1.7225 per lb, moving from $1.7115 to $1.755.

The now-benchmark January FCOJ contract shed 0.45 cent to end at $1.6825 per lb, trading from $1.677 to $1.709.

Total volume traded Wednesday was over 3,100 lots, more than double the 30-day norm, preliminary Thomson Reuters data showed.

"There's no big fundamental driver at this time," said Country Hedging Inc analyst Sterling Smith.

The market saw switch activity as players liquidated positions ahead of the spot November contract's delivery period, dealers said.

With about nine sessions left, open interest in the November contract stood at 6,368 lots as of Tuesday.

"We're still getting the roll and that will be a feature of the market this week and next," a dealer said.

The trade also monitored weather conditions near Florida, the leading citrus producer in the country, especially since weather disturbances could still hit the Sunshine State as the annual hurricane season winds down. The storm season ends on Nov. 30.

Open interest stood at 25,247 lots as of Oct. 18, versus 25,177 lots as of Oct. 17, ICE Futures US data said.

Volume traded on Tuesday hit 3,364 lots, from the prior session's 2,682 lots, exchange data showed.

Copyright Reuters, 2011