Bayer CropScience Steps up Investment Plans

Bayer CropScience is on track to grow annual sales towards Euro 9 billion in 2013 and towards Euro 10 billion in 2015.
   Against the background of strong demand for its products, the company is adding Euro 1 billion to its investment program, bringing total capital expenditures for the period 2013 to 2016 to approximately Euro 2.4 billion.
   One integral element of Bayer CropScience’s investment plans is the construction of a new plant in Mobile/Alabama for the production of the herbicide glufosinate-ammonium, marketed in the United States. The start-up of the new plant is anticipated probably for the fourth quarter of 2015, in time for the 2016 growing season. Along with capacity expansion projects currently under way at other sites, this new facility will contribute significantly to the company’s target of more than doubling global product supply for this important active ingredient.
   In addition to the ramp-up of its supply chain capacity in Crop Protection, another element of the company’s growth plan is the implementation of its Seeds strategy. Bayer CropScience plans to further strengthen its position in established crops such as vegetables, rice, oilseed rape and cotton, and to build up significant market positions in soybean and wheat.