According to the Brazilian citrus association Abecitrus, the European heat-wave has increased the demand for fruit juices, particularly orange juice by more than 13 per cent.
However in Brazil, the drought has caused a drop of 10 per cent in processed fruit and is adversely affecting tardy fruit.
If this decline persists during the remainder of the season, processing will reach 225 million boxes, instead of 250mboxes, resulting in less than 100,000 tonnes of juice production.
This fall in Brazilian production added to the 100,000t extra demand in Europe, will create a gap of 200,000t in the worst case scenario. "Even if we have heavier rains at the appropriate time ñ at the end of September ñ there will be losses of at least 40,000t during this season," said an Abecitrus spokesman.
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