# Oranges & juice: Trading

The juice futures contract made famous by a film

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/trading/

What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.

Juice, not fruit, has the exchange contract. Geman dates FCOJ futures in New York to 1966; they now trade on ICE Futures US in cents per pound of solids. The contract is thin and weather-driven, and the film Trading Places made it famous. Physical juice is sold under contracts between a few large Brazilian processors, such as Cutrale, Citrosuco and Louis Dreyfus, and bottlers. Fresh oranges trade through packers, wholesale markets and retailer programmes, with no futures. The World Bank series is a fresh-fruit quote, not the juice contract.

#### Where it is bought (buyers)

- Juice packers in the US (440 kt use in 2025/26) and Europe (304 kt) buy bulk FCOJ and NFC from Brazilian processors, often through terminals in Belgium and the Netherlands
- EU supermarkets and importers buy fresh fruit from Spain, Egypt and South Africa; Germany, France and the Netherlands took 27.5% of world fresh import value in 2024
- Gulf and Russian importers buy fresh fruit; Saudi Arabia took 4.2% and Iraq 2.4% of fresh import value in 2024

#### Where it is sold (sellers)

- Brazil's processors (Cutrale, Citrosuco, Louis Dreyfus) sell 39.3% of world juice export value
- The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium re-export juice blended and packed in Europe
- Spain, Egypt and South Africa sell fresh fruit; Mexico exported 81 kt of juice in 2025/26 (USDA PSD)

#### Exchanges and benchmarks

| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **ICE Futures US** | FCOJ-A, 15,000 lb of orange solids | the only liquid orange juice futures; thin and prone to sharp moves |
| **India** | none | no orange or juice futures on MCX or NCDEX; prices are set in mandis such as Nagpur's |

#### Contract types

- Multi-year grower supply contracts with processors in Sao Paulo, priced per 40.8 kg box
- Annual or multi-year bulk juice contracts between processors and bottlers, often referenced to ICE prices
- Spot and programme sales of fresh fruit FOB or delivered to retailers

#### Top trading houses

- Louis Dreyfus Company
- Cutrale and Citrosuco sell directly to bottlers

#### How prices are discovered

- ICE FCOJ-A settlement prices
- CEPEA grower prices in Sao Paulo
- World Bank Pink Sheet orange price (Europe)
- Mandi prices for Nagpur oranges published on Agmarknet

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/cycles/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/orange/links/index.md)