Orange juice futures headed lower in New York despite a third cut by US officials for expectations for the domestic orange crop following frosts in Florida.

The US Department of Agriculture cut by 1% to 8.70m tonnes its forecast for the US orange crop after a "series of winter storms brought hard freezes and frosts to much of Florida" last month.

While vegetable, strawberry and sugarcane farms bore the brunt of the weather damage, the USDA also highlighted lower-than-usual fruit sizes in the orange crop in Florida, America's top citrus-growing state.

And it trimmed by 2% to 1.57 gallons the juice yield Florida producers would reap per box of oranges processed, leaving the figure only a fraction ahead of last season's.

Coke's costs fizz 

However, orange juice prices closed 1.8% lower at 169.00 cents a pound, for March delivery, in New York, with analysts saying the USDA downgrade had already been factored into the market.

Indeed, orange juice futures remain with range of a three-year high of 190 cents a pound reached a month ago, amid heightened fears for  damage to groves from Florida's frosts, at a time of firm demand.

Coca-Cola, the drinks giant, on Wednesday cited bills for juice, with plastics and sweeteners, in reporting a 60% jump in cost of goods sold in the October-to-December period, adding that it was now hedging commodities.

While fruit juice output in the major producing countries, Brazil and the US, looks on course to rise for the first time in a number of seasons, demand is recovering in the European Union, the top importer.

Besides economic revival, European appetites for juice are being whetted by the "convenience" of juice compared with the fruit itself, the USDA said in a report last month.