THE European Union’s antitrust watchdog will launch an in-depth probe into a plan by China National Chemical Corp. (ChemChina) to buy Syngenta AG to determine if the deal would lower competition for crop protection products.

    The investigation will focus on whether combining Swiss-based Syngenta, which sells about one fifth of the world’s pesticides, with a ChemChina-owned company that supplies generic alternatives would leave farmers with higher chemical costs or fewer available products, according to the EU.

    The move was expected after Syngenta signaled earlier last week that its sale would likely be delayed until early 2017. It reflects the level of scrutiny by antitrust authorities for farm sector deals at a time when farmers in Europe and the United States grapple with low grain prices following consecutive bumper crops that swelled global supplies.

    The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said Friday that Syngenta and Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd., an Israeli maker of generic pesticides that is controlled by ChemChina, had “strong overlapping portfolios” of crop protection products such as herbicides and insecticides. The commission set a deadline for March 15 to complete its review. (SD-Agencies)