Shares of Argentine crop technology company Bioceres Crop Solutions SA were on track for their biggest daily drop in two years as its ground-breaking genetically modified wheat seeds face setbacks.
Rosario-based Bioceres fell nearly 16 percent in New York trading, the most intraday since July 2022, after it posted earnings that missed estimates for the quarter ending June 30 and as executives highlighted headwinds for its HB4 wheat strain.
“We fell halfway between where we were last year and what we expected to do during this season,” Chief Executive Officer Federico Trucco told analysts.
Bioceres is on a quest to overcome deep-seated global fears about GMO wheat by becoming the first company to bring such a strain to market. Farmers have for decades grown genetically modified soybeans and corn, mostly used for livestock feed or biofuels. But direct consumption of GMO crops by humans has long stoked fierce opposition from consumer and environmental groups.
The company reached a milestone last month as the United States, a top-five wheat exporter, gave the green light to HB4, which tolerates drought as well as glufosinate herbicide. But Trucco sought to temper expectations about how quickly investors will see HB4 harvests in the Midwest, explaining in an interview that it may take up to three years to adapt genetics and breed enough seeds to sell to farmers.
“Fully monetising the opportunity will take us a few years,” he said. “But I think there’s a more immediate effect in terms of increasing the level of credibility. It’s a more demanding market saying: ‘We want the technology.’”
In Argentina, where roll-out of HB4 wheat is most advanced, Bioceres still has hurdles to surpass.
Trying to expand acreage outside of closely controlled identity-preserved planting will entail “a more patient approach to growth,” Trucco told analysts.
The push with seed breeders and farmers needs fine-tuning, Trucco said, citing ongoing industry doubts over GMO wheat and high royalty charges for HB4. “We underestimated the level of validation that is required for conventional sales,” he said.
Still, about 20 flour mills in Argentina are already buying HB4 and hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmland have been sown with the strain this season in a country with a total wheat area of about six million hectares (14.8 million acres), Trucco said in the interview.
With regard to customers, Trucco hopes Argentina can eventually ship more HB4 cargoes to its biggest wheat client, Brazil. Bioceres also plans to try to convince other importers, particularly buyers of US wheat Japan and South Korea, since HB4 remains banned in swaths of Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
“I’m not ready to scream ‘goal’ in anyone’s face,” Trucco said in the interview. “But we have come a significant distance.”
by Jonathan Gilbert, Bloomberg
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