July 30 (Reuters) - Agrichemicals company FMC Corp FMC.N said on Wednesday it intends to divest its commercial business in India, in response to challenges in the country.

Shares of the company, which also lowered its forecast for annual sales, rose over 1% in trading after the bell.

FMC, which makes insecticide and fungicide, saw a sharp drop in demand in 2023 as high inventory levels of crop chemicals across several regions had weighed in on earnings.

While the company expects demand to bounce back in most regions, FMC said the market conditions in India were still challenging, given high inventory levels.

The South Asian country is also entangled in a trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump, who earlier today announced a 25% tariff on goods imported from India.

The White House had previously warned India about its high average applied tariffs — nearly 39% on agricultural products.

FMC said the sale process was underway and is expected to conclude within the next year. It plans to continue to actively participate in the Indian market through a supply agreement with the potential buyer of the business.

FMC said it would also continue running its active ingredient manufacturing operations in India.

The herbicide maker also said on Wednesday it expects net sales to be in the range of $4.08 billion to $4.28 billion in 2025, compared to its prior outlook of $4.15 billion to $4.35 billion.

(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com))