The "Sunshine State" at the southeastern tip of the United States, known for its production of oranges, grapefruit and other citrus fruit, is facing an even more brutal blast of freezing air this weekend, weather forecasters said.

Temperatures have dropped below freezing several times this week, an unusual cold snap in Florida that has raised fears for the crop that generates more than nine billion dollars a year.

The impact is calibrated in New York, where frozen concentrated orange juice is traded like oil and other commodities: the benchmark futures contract, for delivery in March, climbed Friday above 1.50 dollars a pound, the highest level since January 2008.

That was a 15 percent gain from the price at the end of last week on the InterContinentalExchange, and a 50 percent jump from October.

Rich Feltes, an MF Global analyst, said about 15 percent of the state's crops have been exposed to freezing temperatures.

The freeze "has caught many watchers by surprise," he said, because forecasters had predicted a warmer than normal January in North America.

"That's a killing frost, and I think that the concern is that there could be another cold wave coming," he added. "It will take some time to asses the extent of the losses."

Florida Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Liz Compton said no major damage had been done so far.

"The temperatures have gotten low, but in most areas it has not stayed below 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus two Celsius) for more than four hours," when damage begins, she said.

"Our greatest concern is the cold front forecast to come in this weekend -- that could change things."

Weather forecasting firm AccuWeather predicted a new, colder wave of freezing temperatures over the weekend.

To limit crop damage, local authorities have lifted road transport restrictions to allow producers to speed up the ongoing harvest.

Concerns have mounted since citrus producers already have had a difficult year, especially due to particularly dry conditions.

In December, even before the surprise deep freeze, the US Department of Agriculture forecast Florida would produce some 5.5 million tonnes of oranges in the 2009/2010 season, a decline of 17 percent from a year ago.

The state produces three quarters of US oranges.

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