The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) has forecast China’s orange and orange juice (OJ) production and trade levels for the 2025–26 season.
ORANGES
China’s orange production is forecast at 7.68 million metric tons (MMT), up slightly from the prior season’s 7.62 MMT. Oranges are grown on 816,500 hectares.
China is expected to import 161,000 MT of oranges in 2025–26, flat from the previous year’s 160,880 MT. Top suppliers in 2024–25 were South Africa, Australia and Egypt. The United States was the fourth largest supplier, followed by Spain.
Orange exports are forecast at 150,000 MT in 2025–26, slightly higher than in 2024–25. Over the last three years, China has maintained significantly higher exports than the average of the previous three years.
OJ
Chinese OJ production for 2025–26 is forecast at 31,500 MT of frozen concentrated orange juice. That’s up slightly from 31,000 MT in 2024–25 but substantially higher than the 17,500 MT of OJ produced in 2023–24.
USDA FAS explained the reason for the huge OJ production jump from 2023–24 to 2024–25: In 2024–25, Brazil’s orange production fell to historic lows, sharply tightening global OJ supplies. Faced with exceptionally high Brazilian concentrate prices, Chinese processors increased the volume of fresh oranges delivered for processing to sustain domestic demand.
China’s OJ imports in 2025–26 are forecast at 64,100 MT, an approximately 30% increase from 2024–25 imports of 49,310 MT. The rebound reflects a lower international price and industry contacts’ belief that Brazilian production has improved sufficiently to provide supply availability.
China’s OJ exports in 2025–26 are forecast at 11,500 MT, down about 3% from 2024–25. The top 10 OJ export destinations in 2024–25 were Australia, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Ireland, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
See the full USDA FAS report on China’s citrus production here.
Source: USDA FAS
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