A scramble by South American growers to cash in on high corn and soybean prices sparked a forecast-beating 21% jump in Syngenta's sales, extending a rebound in shares in the seed and sprays giant.

Syngenta said that Latin American growers were behind a 50% jump in selective herbicides in the July-to-September quarter, "increasingly in demand" thanks to growing resistance among weeks to conventional weedkillers.

And, in seeds, Latin American sales soared 60% to $187m, making it Syngenta's biggest selling region during the quarter, overtaking Europe, where the period witnesses the start of sowings of winter crops.

Official Brazilian data last week estimated the country's summer corn sowings rising by up to 7%, with soybean area expected to expand by up to 3.5%.

Sales soar

"A robust soybean crop price, and the expectation of lower production in the US, are leading to increased investment by soybean growers in Brazil and Argentina," the Swiss-based group said.

"Sales of soybean seeds in Latin America more than doubled with the launch of new varieties."

Corn sales were "also up strongly", with "strong acceptance of our enhanced portfolio, including the Viptera trait" which has provoked controversy in the US after Bunge and Cargill imposed restrictions on handling the variety.

Bunge says its curbs, which have provoked a legal battle with Syngenta, reflect Beijing's failure, as yet, to approve Viptera, and a desire to keep its supply chain free of the variety, avoiding the threat of being barred from shipments to China.

North America decline

Indeed, the sales data came amid a reminder over the Viptera controversy, which market speculation said could raise questions over a 900,000-tonne sale of US corn to China.

Syngenta's results showed a 27% tumble in seed sales in North America during the latest quarter, a seasonally weak period for the region.

However, the decline was attributed to a return to a normal level of rebates to seed retailers, after an unusually low level last year, which prompted a "positive adjustment" to the sales figure.

"Grower confidence in Viptera remains high," a Syngenta spokesman told Agrimoney.com, adding that it expected the brand to show a "lot of continued growth".

Market reaction

Group sales came in at $2.66bn, up from $2.20bn a year before, and ahead of market expectations of a $2.48bn result.

"Our performance reflects the breadth of our portfolio, augmented by rapid growth in new crop protection products and the expansion of our corn trait coverage," Mike Mack, the Syngenta chief executive, said, also flagging a return to increasing weedkiller prices.

He added that, for the full year, the company expected "substantial top line growth, higher profitability… and a significant increase in free cash flow".

Credit Suisse analyst Rhian Tucker, restating a "neutral" forecast on Syngenta shares, with a price target of SFr290, said that "group volume growth of 13% was well ahead of our expectations".

Syngenta shares jumped 4.4% to SFr276.40 in early deals, their highest since July, and taking to 15% their October rebound.

The stock closed 1.3% higher at SFr268.20.