RIO DE JANEIRO--Deere & Co. said it is laying off nearly 10%
of the workers at a factory in southern Brazil as it seeks to cope
with falling sales in South America and "the volatility of the
Brazilian market."
The farming equipment company's move came as farmers, faced with
lower prices for commodities like sugar and grains, hold off on
buying expensive new machinery. Prices for soybeans, Brazil's
biggest agricultural export, have fallen almost 30% since the
beginning of the year.
The factory where the layoffs are taking place, in Horizontina,
has roughly 1,800 workers and produces mechanical harvesters and
planters. Deere has four other factories in Brazil.
In its latest quarterly earnings release, Deere said it expect
sales of agricultural machinery in South America to decline 15%
from 2013. Brazil is by far the continent's biggest market for such
equipment, followed by Argentina.
"Faced with this scenario and despite all efforts, John Deere
Brasil has had to adjust to the volatility of the Brazilian
market," the company said in a statement.
Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com
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