Dow's Agricultural Sciences sales down 8% in Q2 2015

Dow’s Agricultural Sciences sales were down by 8.3% to $ 1,747 million in the second quarter ended on June 30th, 2015. Lower crop commodity prices, driving a flat agricultural market, together with significant currency headwinds, impacted results. Volume growth was achieved in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India (EMEAI) and Asia Pacific but was more than offset by lower demand in Latin America and North America.

Sales of Crop Protection decreased due to currency headwinds with volume impacted by lower glyphosate sales and missed applications caused by wet weather conditions in North America, while new Crop Protection product sales were up 5%, driven by spinetoram insecticide. Sales of Seeds also decreased, driven by shifting acreage out of corn to soybeans and currency headwinds.

The segment achieved significant regulatory milestones with the approval of ENLIST™ corn and soybean traits in Brazil, ENLIST E3™ soybeans in Argentina, and the active ingredients in ARYLEX™ herbicide and ISOCLAST™ insecticide at the European level. The business also announced and received positive grower feedback with the first commercial sales of ENLIST DUO™ herbicides in the United States. Additionally, the Company announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the divestiture of AgroFresh, its post-harvest specialty chemical business.

Operating EBITDA for the segment was $269 million, up 8 percent from $249 million in the year-ago period – as a result of productivity actions as well as a gain related to the sale of a product line.