Sumitomo, Nufarm reach toll manufacturing agreement in Australia

Nufarm Australia, a wholly owned affiliate of Nufarm Limited (Nufarm), and Sumitomo Chemical Australia Pty Ltd (SCAL), a wholly owned affiliate of Sumitomo Chemical Company (Sumitomo Chemical), have reached agreement on new toll manufacturing arrangements for a number of Sumitomo Chemical’s products in Australia.

The agreement covers six of Sumitomo Chemical’s proprietary products including Admiral® Insect Growth Regulator, Shield Systemic Insecticide™, and Sumi-Alpha® Flex which Nufarm Australia will formulate and package for SCAL to distribute. The arrangements will come into place immediately and will involve Nufarm manufacturing facilities at Kwinana in Western Australia and the specialist insecticides plant at Lytton in Queensland.

According to Ray Nishimoto, Executive Officer of Sumitomo Chemical, “This is one of many achievements from the co-operation between Nufarm and Sumitomo Chemical since Sumitomo Chemical's strategic investment in Nufarm was completed in April of this year. The toll manufacturing arrangements will combine Nufarm Australia’s superb manufacturing and formulation technology with Sumitomo Chemical’s high quality products and will help Australian growers combat severe pest pressures, such as white fly in cotton this season.”

"Further, we are extremely positive about our on-going discussions with Nufarm as a partner for our seed protection platform in New Zealand and Australia, and further discussions continue in relation to label expansions and possible mixture products on a country by country basis,” Nishimoto added.

Nufarm's Managing Director, Doug Rathbone, said the co-operation between the companies on various levels will continue to add value for both businesses.

"We see a number of valuable synergies in working more closely with Sumitomo Chemical and we plan to pursue those opportunities."