Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Jeff Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan.
Jeff Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan
When you look at your soybean sales, they obviously grew at a much faster rate than corn seed sales. Was it the case that you're gaining more market share from your point of view in soy than in corn or was the growth in sales in part as a result of the change in planted acreage in the U.S.?
Hugh Grant
Yes, a significant piece is a bigger market and more beans in a bigger market. And I think another piece, Jeff, is performance and we're seeing the effect today of continued improvement in the genetics in our beans. Six years ago or so we focused resources on corn and shorted beans, and I think in the last couple of years we've really changed that dynamic and you're seeing that showing through. But more acres is more sales, I think, underpinned by performance as well.
Jeff Zekauskas - J.P. Morgan
And then lastly, did your corn seed volume grow in the quarter?
Terry Crews
Corn seed volume was about flat in the quarter, so most of the incremental value that we saw in the quarter came from price.
Operator
Your next question comes from P.J. Juvekar - Citigroup.
P.J. Juvekar - Citigroup
You know, you were adding a brownfield expansion to Roundup in Louisiana and Terry mentioned that there is more capacity coming online in China, so where do you think the Chinese manufacturing costs are relative to your new expansion?
Hugh Grant
P.J., thanks for the question. We believe - and, you know, we've been rehearsing for 35 years or 37, I've kind of lost track - but we believe that we continue to have a significant cost advantage versus the Chinese. And the new steel and concrete that goes in in Luling will continue to drive that. So I think, as we've felt for the last decade, we've got a significant edge over that Chinese production.
P.J. Juvekar - Citigroup
In the past you mentioned something like the Chinese cost is 50% higher, 5 - 0, 50% higher than your cost. Is that something that's still a good rule of thumb?
Hugh Grant
Yes, as long as you categorize it as rule of thumb, then I'll buy your thumb. For 35 years we've always been shy on laying what our cost advantage is, but I'd buy your thumb, P.J.
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