Corn drives Monsanto record net sales

Agriculture giant Monsanto reported record net sales on April 4 of $2.6 billion for the second quarter of fiscal year 2007. This represents a 19 percent increase over the same period last year.

BY: admin | Thu Jul 10, 2008

Monsanto attributes the increase for the quarter to strong sales of the company's corn seed and traits in the US. Contributing to that were higher sales of the company's herbicide Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides in the Europe-Africa region, Brazil and Argentina.
Sales growth in these areas was offset by lower soybean seed and traits revenues in the US as farmers decreased acreage dedicated to soybeans in favor of corn.
Corn has seen a sharp increase in its demand, in part, as more bio-fuels plants come online that produce ethanol.
Net sales in the company's first half of fiscal year 2007 resulted in record year-to-date sales of $4.2 billion. This represents a 15 percent increase compared to sales for the first half of 2006.
"While the 2007 agriculture season is shaping up to be an outstanding one," says Hugh Grant, chairman, president and CEO of Monsanto, "the strong demand that we've seen for our higher-yielding corn seeds and our higher-margin, triple-trait corn technology has translated into an excellent second quarter and first half for our business."