The orange juice market is going crazy ahead of Hurricane Irma

Frozen concentrated orange juice futures, spiked higher on Tuesday as Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida.

The Category 5 storm has already set records, with the National Hurricane Center on Tuesday setting its initial intensity at 155 knots, making Irma "the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic.

That sent the frozen concentrated orange juice futures continuous contract spiking up as high as $146.60, from the previous close of $138.60. The contract represents around 15,000 pounds of orange juice solids.

Before the storm formed, Florida was expected to produce more than half of the U.S. oranges and nearly half of the country's grapefruit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's forecasts in July.

Florida is the world's second-largest orange juice producer, after Brazil.

While the "potentially catastrophic" storm could seriously hurt Florida and many parts of its economy, the impact of a damaged orange sector would be significant: The industry employs more than 45,000 people and provides an annual economic impact of $8.6 billion to the state, according to the Florida Department of Citrus.

Source: Bloomberg Pro Terminal

Trader Bozhidar Arabadzhiev

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