With demand for corn surging, Monsanto Co plans to invest $610 million in US corn seed production facilities after inventory was nearly exhausted this season, the company said on Thursday.
The plan, which Monsanto said marks the largest "reinvestment" in its history as an agricultural products company, includes expansions at nine existing corn production facilities, as well as two greenfield sites in the US Midwest.
Monsanto's corn seed brands account for more than 30 percent of the US corn seed market. Monsanto leads the industry in development of a range of crops, including corn, genetically modified to help fight weeds and insects and boost yields.
Monsanto said it believes its top-selling DeKalb brand seeds are valuable enough to farmers that it can hike prices in 2008 by double-digit percentages while still growing market share beyond the current level of 23-24 percent.
"Prices for our corn traits have increased across the board for 2008 in our DeKalb brand. We believe this pricing approach creates incremental value but doesn't dampen our long-term opportunity," said Monsanto executive vice president Carl Casale.
Prices for single-trait seed have increased 10 to 25 percent with Roundup Ready herbicide-tolerant corn now at the high end of that range, Casale said.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.