(Bloomberg) -- Corteva Inc. dominates the US market for soybean seeds that are genetically modified to withstand weed-killing sprays. It now has its sights on Brazil.
The company expects its Enlist E3 seeds to grab a significant market share in the South American nation. “We don’t see any reason why we couldn’t have 20% or 30%” of Brazil’s soybean acres by the end of the decade, according to Chief Executive Officer Chuck Magro.
The country is the world’s largest producer of the commodity used to produce chicken feed and truck fuel. Brazil’s farming sector has seen rampant acreage expansion, emerging as a key growth driver for suppliers of seeds, pesticides and fertilizers. Producers have planted 117 million acres of soybeans this year, compared with roughly 87 million acres in the US.
Indianapolis-based Corteva will be licensing its Enlist E3 technology to other seed suppliers as part of efforts to foster growth. “It will be a key part of our seed-out licensing strategy,” Magro said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York office.
Corteva’s seeds, which allow farmers to spray crops with pesticides including glyphosate and 2,4-D choline, have captured almost two thirds of the US market since being introduced in 2019, according to the company. Its rate of adoption is still negligible in Brazil, where the system has been available for only a few seasons.
The company will run up against challenges in Brazil, where soybean growers are heavily reliant on a competing technology marketed by Bayer AG. Also, farmer finances have come under pressure after years of debt-fueled expansion were met by a plunge in prices and drought-led losses in 2024. Bankruptcy filings in the nation’s farming sector have surged, and crop-input retailers have been hard hit by an inventory glut.
While uncertainties persist, the Brazilian market seems to be “slowly moving toward stability and growth,” Magro said, citing improved book orders and expectations for an increase in sales in the fourth quarter.
“It certainly feels like we’ve turned the corner in Brazil,” the executive said. “But I don’t know if we’re out of the woods yet.”
Shares of Corteva, which spun off from DowDuPont five years ago, slid for a third straight day on Thursday, trimming gains for the year. The company should see a rebound in operating earnings per share in 2025 following an expected drop this year, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
--With assistance from Tarso Veloso.
(Updates with share move in last paragraph. A previous version was corrected to clarify profit metric.)
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