The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

MON/DD—The deep slide in Brazil’s currency—the real is down more than 30% against the dollar this year—isn’t only cutting into the dollar amount of DuPont’s sales, it is encouraging Brazilian farmers to grow soybeans for export. That will hurt DuPont’s corn-seed sales.

Fortunately for MON, it has a large soybean business in Brazil, spearheaded by Intacta seeds with insect deterrence.

Still, MON doesn’t make as much money on an acre of soybeans as it does on an acre of corn, so the switch from corn to soybeans in Brazil will have some negative consequences for MON.