Orange juice futures prices hit their highest levels for a year on Wednesday, after a 45 per cent rise in the past six weeks, amid concerns over Florida’s disease-hit citrus crop and signs that juice demand is improving.

The rise marks a turnround for Florida’s citrus industry, the world’s second-largest, behind Brazil’s São Paulo state, following seven consecutive years of falling US orange juice retail sales. The declines had pushed prices to a 4½-year low in February.