Syngenta announced on Thursday that all of the group’s business areas grew by double digits. The agrochemical group increased its sales from January to June by a total of almost a quarter to 14.4 billion dollars.
The Chinese agricultural business (Syngenta Group China) alone increased sales by almost half to 4.2 billion. But also the largest business area crop protection (Syngenta Crop Protection) grew by a fifth to 6.8 billion.
Compared to the first quarter, Syngenta has increased the pace again from 20 to 28 percent. The result in the first half of the year reflects the great interest shown by farmers in sustainable products and services, the press release said. The business with biological pesticides grew by 27 percent.
Climate change is also driving demand: according to this, farmers are increasingly turning to Syngenta products to cope with the effects of the persistent drought in North and Latin America, the prolonged cold spell in Europe and global floods. But the pandemic also turned out to be a growth driver: During the Covid-19 pandemic, farmers increased their inventories, which had a positive effect on growth in the first half of the year, Syngenta wrote.
Profits rose almost in step with sales. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted for restructuring charges and write-downs, increased 22 percent to $ 2.7 billion. The margin thus remained stable.
In addition to the Swiss crop protection and seed company, the Syngenta Group also includes the Israeli Adama and the agricultural businesses of Sinochem, which is based in China.
The group owned by the Chinese state corporation ChemChina was formed in 2020 and, according to earlier information, plans to go public this year. The Chinese securities regulator recently gave the green light for an IPO in Shanghai.
Syngenta was previously listed on the Swiss stock exchange, but was swallowed by ChemChina in 2017 for $ 43 billion.