|
 The German-based company is moving to save cash as it wages an
expensive legal battle to fight allegations that another product,
its glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup, causes cancer. Bayer
denies the claims.
The company said it is halting work on a new dicamba plant in Luling,
Louisiana, because global overcapacity for producing the chemical
made the investment less attractive. Instead, Bayer will continue to
buy dicamba and produce its XtendiMax herbicide at another plant in
Iowa, according to a statement.
"Stopping construction enables us to preserve cash and prioritize
our investments in new innovation for farmers," Bayer said.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled
on June 3 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
substantially understated the risks related to the use of dicamba,
which is sprayed on soybeans and cotton that Bayer genetically
engineered to resist the chemical. The herbicides are known to drift
away and damage other crops that are not resistant.
[to top of second column] |
The EPA subsequently said farmers can use existing supplies of dicamba-based
herbicides, which are also sold by rivals BASF SE and Corteva Inc, until July
31.
"While the timing of the court's ruling is coincidental and unfortunate, it was
not a factor in our reassessment of the Luling plant," Bayer said, adding that
it still supports dicamba.
Monsanto, which Bayer bought for $63 billion two years ago, in 2015 announced
preliminary plans to spend more than $1 billion over the next three to five
years at its Luling site to produce dicamba. Bayer also inherited the legal
dispute over glyphosate from the takeover.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Leslie Adler)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
