Global SDHI fungicide market expected to reach $4 bn in 2020

Succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors, otherwise referred to as SDHI fungicides, are a nearly four decade old innovation which has started to gain prominence since 2003. The 2014 global market for SDHI fungicides was valued at $2,721 million and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.1% to mature into a $4,046.6 million market by 2020, according to a newly published report.

 

According to the FRAC guidelines, SDHI fungicides include benodanil, benzovindiflupyr, bixafen, boscalid, carboxin, fenfuram, fluopyram, flutolanil, fluxapyroxad, furametpyr, isofetamid, isopyrazam, mepronil, oxycarboxin, penflufen, penthiopyrad, sedaxane and thifluzamide. These fungicides are in general cross resistant and represent the new generation of SDHI products that have only recently hit the market place. The SDHI fungicides were developed nearly 40 years, but the limited application and disease coverage these first generation products provided, their success were limited to a negligible number of crops. Only since 2003, the new generations of SDHIs were introduced and have proven to be a success due to their increased efficacy and potency. These products have shown good dollar spot control while also providing control of anthracnose, brown patch, snow molds, and various other diseases in a wide array of crops.

 

One of the major drivers of the SDHI fungicides market is the increasing demand for cereal and meat based products. Every day it is estimated that the world adds nearly 200,000 people to its food market and the population is expected to rise to 9.2 billion by 2050, well underscoring the need to develop specialized chemicals and formulations. Reflective of this is the estimated increase in calorie intake of individuals, which is expected to reach 3050 kcal per person by 2050, a significant rise from the 2005 value of 2770 kcal. Cereals, which are the main target crop for SDHIs, are crucial in this regard with nearly 50% of the global calorie intake dependent on them. This combined with the new farming techniques and willingness of farmers to take on additional risk has changed the R&D infrastructure and priorities and ushered in a whole set of efficient SDHIs. The restraints provided are based on the issues of environmental and health hazard posed by use of pesticides and fungicides; the relative newness of the products also dictates a tougher policy until their mode of action is fully understood. The production of SDHIs is also a capital intensive process albeit a worthy investment according to various sources. Even in a low disease pressure year, the returns remained high based on wheat disease specialists. 

 

The market is segmented based on the application type and geography. On the basis of application type, cereals, wheat, and soybeans occupy major shares followed by other minor products such as barley and various fruits. SDHIs are predicted as high potential fungicides mainly due to their superior performance in relation to Triazoles, and due to their high impact on crops despite a significant drop in winter cereal plantings. The impact of weather is a crucial factor in the agrochemicals market as a whole and is important to understand the role of SDHIs in regard to the farmer's strategy of resistance management and ensuring the protection of their crops against septoria (a fungi that affects crop leaves).

 

On the bases of geography, North America and Europe occupy the major positions with a growing demand from the emerging economies of Asia-Pacific and South America. The regulatory restriction imposed on agrochemicals in Europe and some parts of Asiaact as a major restrain to the industry. The European regions have shown a high affinity for the usage of SDHIs on Cereals and the North American regions use it more for fruits and vegetables. The major players include Syngenta, BASF, DuPont, and Bayer CropScience. The firms have adopted a path of targeting specific crops and developing R&D infrastructure in that direction.