Imports of oranges are increasing with domestic production slowing due to citrus greening. A new report by CoBank shows domestic orange acreage is down almost 40 percent from its high of 20 years ago. Citrus greening is the leading cause for the decline, along with recent hurricanes in various citrus growing regions in the United States. CoBank says The U.S. sources virtually all its orange juice imports from Brazil and Mexico, with Brazil accounting for 66 percent of imports in 2017. In Florida, orange production is expected to continue to decline over the next three years as old groves devastated by greening disease are gradually replaced and new ones come into production. In the meantime, imports from Brazil will likely increase. In 2017 the U.S. imported 34.8 million and 17.9 million single strength equivalent gallons of orange juice from Brazil and Mexico respectively, accounting for 99.3 percent of orange juice imports. While supplies have been shrinking, so too has domestic demand for the juice. Current consumption of 2.4 gallons per capita is less than half of the peak of nearly six gallons per capita in the late 1990s.
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