Frankfurt (Germany) (AFP) – German agrichemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer reported a bump in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by its agricultural business, even as sales of controversial glyphosate-based weedkillers struggled. Core profit at the firm rose nine percent to 4.45 billion euros ($5.22 billion), but almost 18 percent at the agricultural division, boosted by the resolution of a licensing dispute and higher corn and soybean seed sales.
Herbicide revenue at the division struggled, however, with sales of glyphosate-based products down 15.1 percent. Bayer has spent more than $10 billion settling thousands of cases linked to glyphosate since it acquired the US agrichemical group Monsanto in 2018, which developed the popular glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup. The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers glyphosate a probable human carcinogen, but Bayer says scientific studies and US and European Union regulatory approvals show the weedkiller is safe.
Customers in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa were “delaying purchases” of glyphosate products, Bayer said in its report. Confirming its currency-adjusted outlook for the year, Bayer stated in its first-quarter report that the war in the Middle East had so far had no “material impact” on its guidance.
In a presentation to investors, Bayer noted that the war and its hit to global energy supplies had, in fact, hurt low-cost Chinese competitors in the glyphosate market. “Iran conflict has increased the cost for Chinese producers,” it said, adding that there was enough demand “to support higher pricing” of the products.
© 2024 AFP
