ICE FCOJ-A

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The ICE FCOJ-A contract is the world benchmark contract for the frozen concentrated orange juice market. The contract prices physical delivery of exchange-grade product (with grading performed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture). It is traded through ICE's futures subsidiary ICE Futures U.S..^[1]

ICE Futures U.S. Orange Juice is the “youngest” traditional commodity futures market, introduced in 1966, with options trading since 1985. Not From Concentrate Orange Juice futures and options came along in 2006.^[2]

On Dec. 13, 2007, the exchange announced the temporary delisting of the July 2009 expiry and all subsequent months and instituted a temporary moratorium on listing new contract months while changes to the futures contract terms were being considered.

Then, on March 14, the exchange said that effective with the July 2009 expiration, it would amend its rules for the FCOJ-A futures contract, adding Mexico and Costa Rica as countries of origin deliverable under the contract. Prior to the change, only product of Florida and/or Brazil was allowed. ^[3] At the same time, the exchange is implementing amendments to Licensing Rules 7.63 and 7.64, which support the revised product origin standard with regard to storage and loadout of product in exchange deliveries. Along with the implementation of the changes, the exchange said it would resume trading of the months that were temporarily delisted, and would resume the regular listing of additional contract months.

Effective with the start of trading on Monday, March 24, 2008, the following futures contract months will be listed for trading on the ICE electronic platform: July 2009, September 2009, November 2009, January 2010, March 2010, May 2010, July 2010, September 2010, November 2010 and January 2011. Options on each of these futures contracts would listed on Tuesday, March 25, 2008.

Uses

The frozen concentrated orange juice product, which was developed around 1946, requires 80% of the annual Florida orange crop to meet consumer demand. In 1948, U.S. patent No. 2,453,109 was issued to Florida researchers for the process to manufacture FCOJ with the addition of approximately 10% fresh juice to the final product.

When FCOJ is prepared from fresh juice there is very little loss of nutritional value. For example, 98% of the Vitamin C, the most abundant vitamin in fresh orange juice, is retained in FCOJ. This is a loss of only 2% in the process of juice extraction, juice concentration and freezing.^[4]

Data Quotes

ICE offers data quotes on a subscription basis.^[5]

ICE FCOJ-A futures
Exchange	ICE
Settlement	Physically delivered
Trade Unit	15,000 pounds of orange juice solids
Point Value	Need point value!
Tick Value	5/100 of a cent per pound ($7.50/contract)
Contract Months	January, March, May, July, September and November with at least two January months listed at all times
First Notice Date	First business day of the contract month
Last Trading Day	One business day prior to last notice day
	Open Outcry	Electronic
Trading Hours	10:00 to 13:30 Eastern Time; closing period commences at 13:29 Eastern time	07:00 to 15:15 Eastern Time
Ticker Symbol	OJ	OJ
Price Limits	A movable 10 cents per pound above/below the previous day’s settlement price. When the futures contract month with the largest open interest hits the 10 cent limit up or down, a suspension of trading may be triggered after which trading will resume with all months having a new limit of 10 cents per pound above/ below the price level at which each month was trading/bid/offered at the time of the suspension	A movable 10 cents per pound above/below the previous day’s settlement price. When the futures contract month with the largest open interest hits the 10 cent limit up or down, a suspension of trading may be triggered after which trading will resume with all months having a new limit of 10 cents per pound above/ below the price level at which each month was trading/bid/offered at the time of the suspension

References

1. ↑ Orange Juice. InterContinentalExchange. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
2. ↑ Orange Juice. InterContinentalExchange. Retrieved on January 29, 2008.
3. ↑ Press Release. IntercontinentalExchange. Retrieved on March 14, 2008.
4. ↑ Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice From Florida Oranges. University of Florida-IFAS Extension. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.
5. ↑ The most valuable commodity is information. ICE. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.