AgroPages-Syngenta completes the capacity expansion projects in Brazil and Switzerland-Agricultural news

Syngenta has announced the completion of capacity expansion projects at key sites in Brazil and Switzerland.

Syngenta invested a combined total of $240 million in two plants in Brazil – a new ELATUS fungicide plant in Paulínia, São Paulo, and an expanded corn seed factory in Formosa, Goiás – and in expanding its manufacturing facility for S-Metolachlor in Kaisten, Switzerland.

The ELATUS formulation plant in Paulínia is the first in Latin America to make use of PEPITE technology, which results in water-soluble granules, combining the properties of liquid use with the convenience and easy transportable advantage of a dry, solid product. The use of this formulation, in addition to the characteristics of ELATUS active ingredients, also improves transportation of the ingredients to the plant tissue, ensuring rapid and systemic protection of the crop.

ELATUS sales in Latin America exceeded $400 million in 2015. It provides outstanding potency against soybean rust and provides long lasting control and increased yield benefits for the grower.

In Formosa, the installations at Syngenta’s corn seed plant have been quadrupled. The site will raise its production capacity from 400,000 to 1.6 million bags of corn per year.

The investment in Kaisten, Switzerland, has enabled significant production capacity expansion for S-Metolachlor, a leading herbicide used in many brands, including ACURON, DUAL GOLD, and LUMAX. S-Metolachlor has proven to be a critical tool in managing weeds that are increasingly difficult to control in a number of crops, notably corn and soybean.

Mark Peacock, Syngenta Head of Global Operations, said: “With these investments in production capacity expansion, we confirm our long-term commitment to agricultural development and to bringing winning innovation into the hands of growers.”