By Julie Wernau 

Orange juice futures erased earlier losses Wednesday to end higher as the market awaited more news about three brewing storms in the Atlantic.

Frozen concentrated orange juice for November delivery ended up 0.6% at $1.877 a pound. It was the contract's second straight session of gains and followed a sharp spike higher Tuesday on storm activity.

Florida is home to the most oranges grown for juice in the U.S. A hurricane hasn't landed there in nearly 11 years.

However, in the past, hurricanes have been devastating for citrus groves, knocking unripened fruit from trees. The market has rallied 45% since the end of May in anticipation of hurricane season as this year's crop, expected to be the lowest in 52 years according to private forecaster Elizabeth Steger, is already being devastated by disease, making any storm activity even more bullish for traders.

Some traders took profits early Wednesday over concerns that the market's rally this week could be premature. One storm, Fiona, is breaking up. Another, Tropical Storm Gaston, isn't expected to hit Florida, and a third disturbance which forecasters said had the most potential to strike Florida hasn't yet strengthened enough to become a named storm.

"There are people who got all excited about the storms yesterday, but obviously they're not as excited about it today," said Kevin Sharpe, owner of Basic Commodities Inc. in Winter Park, Fla.

A tropical wave just east of the Lesser Antilles is the most likely threat to Florida of several storm systems brewing in the Atlantic, said Joe D'Aleo at WeatherBELL Analytics in New York. If the wave turns into a hurricane by the weekend, he said it could land near Ft. Lauderdale and make its way across the peninsula before strengthening near New Orleans.

In other markets, raw sugar for October delivery fell 2.5% to end at 20.22 cents a pound, and cocoa for December lost 0.8% to close at $3,017 a ton. Arabica coffee for December lost 2.8% to settle at $1.431 a pound. December cotton lost 1% to settle at 67.79 cents a pound.

Write to Julie Wernau at julie.wernau@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2016 17:07 ET (21:07 GMT)