DuPont Eyes Opportunities In Eastern Europe

Posted by Matt Hopkins|18 March 2008

Speaking at the Credit Suisse 2008 Global Agrochemicals Conference, DuPont Vice President and General Manager and Pioneer Hi-Bred President Paul Schickler said DuPont seed business Pioneer Hi-Bred is well positioned to serve the vast agricultural opportunity in Eastern Europe, according to PR Newswire.

“We expect rapid expansion in the high growth Eastern Europe agriculture markets,” Schickler said. “Eastern Europe accounts for close to 60% of the corn acres in Europe, and our seed corn products are performing very well against competitive products. Our new sunflower and canola products also are well adapted for the area and sales are growing rapidly.”

Pioneer has grown its seed corn market share for all of Europe by more than four points over the last five years, Schickler said. The Pioneer volume of seed corn has grown by 39% during that time, despite the total hectares planted to corn remaining relatively stable.

Schickler said Pioneer, which had US $3.3 billion in revenue in 2007, is extending its leadership in all international seed markets with particularly strong gains in Brazil and Argentina, where biotech crops are being widely adopted. In North America, the business is on track to hold corn market share and grow soybean seed market share in 2008.

“We are seeing strong demand for our high-yielding products in North America,” Schickler said. “Our strong line-up of new products bode well for this year’s growing season and the years that follow.”