Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. agrichemicals company Corteva ( CTVA )

said it expects the previously announced planned

separation into two listed ​companies to occur sometime ‌in the

fourth quarter of this year.

Late last year, ⁠the company had said it would ⁠separate its

seed and pesticide businesses ‌as ‌it seeks to sharpen its

strategic focus.

Corteva ( CTVA ) CEO Chuck ​Magro said at the ‌BofA Global Agriculture

and Materials Conference that the company would announce

headquarters, ​senior leadership teams ​and ‌the CEO of New Corteva

in the first half of this year.

The company's ⁠executives added that they are ⁠optimistic

about the future of the crop protection industry, citing steady

demand growth and potential for further consolidation.

"We're seeing ⁠strong ‌demand, essentially around the world,

but ‌there's going to be some continued ⁠headwinds, in price, but

volume should more than offset it," one of the senior executives

said at the conference.

Corteva ( CTVA ) said that positive momentum from a policy

perspective in the ​U.S. could benefit not only the domestic

soybean market but also canola and mustard.

(Reporting ​by Pooja ‌Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Maju Samuel)