Chemtura’s agchem sales up 9% in Q4

摘要

Increased sales of insecticides in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, boosted Chemtura AgroSolutions’ sales by 9.2% to $107 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. The $9 million gain came from higher volumes, with a $5 million increase from higher prices being offset by a $5 million unfavourable foreign currency translation. Operating income rose by 72.7% to $19 million. The improvement came partly from a $3 million gain from the sale of a product line by the Isem joint venture with Italian agrochemical company Isagro. Nihon Nohyaku agreed to acquire Isem’s herbicide, orthosulfamuron, in October 2013 (Agrow No 675, p 3). Earnings also benefited from higher volumes and prices, lower raw material costs of $2 million and a decrease in other costs of $1 million. The gains were partly offset by an adverse currency effect of $3 million.