Orange-juice futures climb as Dollar’s drop boosts commodities

Orange-juice futures rose as the dollar’s rally stalled, boosting the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials climbed as much as 1 per cent as the dollar dropped for the first time in five sessions against a basket of major currencies. On January 29, orange-juice prices tumbled 5 per cent. Orange-juice futures for March delivery rose 1.1 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $1.372 a pound on ICE Futures US in New York. Earlier, the price dropped as much as 1.2 per cent. The commodity rose 5.5 per cent in January after a freeze damaged crops in Florida, the world’s second-largest producer. Futures have surged 89 per cent in the past year as adverse weather and disease cut production. On January 12, the USDA said Florida will produce 135 million boxes of oranges in the harvest that ends in July, the smallest crop in three years. That estimate doesn’t include losses from last month’s freeze. A box weighs 90 pounds, or 41 kilograms.