The world's largest agrochemicals company Syngenta expects 2011 to be a strong year after its third-quarter 2010 sales beat forecasts as rising crop prices encouraged farmers to buy more bug and weed killers.

Seeds and crop protection companies have come under pressure during the first half of the year as fierce competition from cheap Asian herbicides and uncertainty regarding the regulation of genetically modified crops took their toll.

But Syngenta struck a more confident tone as commodity prices are rising.

"I do not know where commodity prices are going but the trend is certainly encouraging," Chief Executive Mike Mack told Reuters in an interview, adding that 2011 could be a strong year for the company.

Syngenta, which also makes genetically modified seeds, still expects a flat operating profit this year, given a weak first half of the year.

"The third quarter performance confirms our expectation of continuing positive volume momentum in the second half of 2010," the company, which competes with Germany's Bayer and BASF, said.

The rise in sales to $2.2 billion between July and September was driven by an upturn in markets in the Northern hemisphere and strong demand in Latin America.

Sales in Argentina rose more than 40 percent as the country recovers from a drought two years ago and the Brazil planting season started well, Syngenta said, adding that the outlook for the fourth quarter in the region was positive.

"Especially crop protection exceeded expectations," Helvea analyst Martin Flueckiger said, adding that Syngenta also seemed to slowly regain pricing power in crop protection.

Syngenta is still looking for buys in its seeds business, its chief financial officer John Ramsay said.

"We have a strong balance sheet that gives us flexibility but most of the companies are rather small," he said in the interview.

U.S. rival Monsanto recently said it expected seed sales to continue to drive growth as pricing conditions for key products were stabilizing.

In July, Syngenta cut its full-year outlook as a late start to the farming season following a harsh winter and higher taxes weighed.

However the shares have recovered and Syngenta is trading at its highest since the end of June, at 15.7 times estimated 2011 earnings, at a slight discount to Monsanto but at a premium to European chemicals companies.