Monsanto: glyphosate in tight supply in Brazil
Date:03-20-2008
Paulo Cau, director of Roundup Ready sales for Monsanto in Brazil, said that "We understand that it will be a year of balanced supply and demand. It will depend a lot on China."
Monsanto Co. said that supplies of glyphosate would be tight in Brazil for the 2008/09 (Oct.-Sept.) soybean season due to strong demand for biotech crops as well as the smaller supply of glyphosate from China following the governments new regulations.
Monsantos Roundup Ready soybeans are genetically designed to be resistant to glyphosate herbicide, which is also marketed by the company, as well as by other suppliers. About 70 percent of Brazils glyphosate is locally produced but the remaining 30 percent is imported from China.
About 30% of Brazils glyphosate supply is imported from China, according to the article. Chinese-made glyphosate prices on the local market have risen to around US $14 a kilogram from $3 in early 2007.
Monsantos Roundup Ready soybeans are genetically designed to be resistant to glyphosate herbicide, which is also marketed by the company, as well as by other suppliers. About 70 percent of Brazils glyphosate is locally produced but the remaining 30 percent is imported from China.
Chinese-made glyphosate prices on the local market have risen to around $14 a kilogram, from $3 in early 2007. Cau said the market has tightened globally after China began enforcing environmental laws on production of the agrochemical.
Brazil legalized GMO soybeans in 2005 and they now account for about 60 percent of total soy planting in the worlds No. 2 producer. Glyphosate is used to clear weeds before planting and during the soy crops development.
The glyphosate-resistant soy is being widely adopted in Brazil due to weeds that have become resistant to conventional herbicides.
"(Monsanto) is making an effort to increase its capacity to produce (glyphosate) in Brazil to attend a market that was supplied by China," Cau said.
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