Agrochemical sales up 14% in Brazil in 2012

In the year of 2012, the Brazilian agrochemical market increased 14.4%, equivalent to US$ 1.2 billion, reaching new record of US$ 9.71 billion. Overall the segment sold 823,220 tons of chemicals to control pests and weeds, 12.6% more than the year before.

Due to this numbers, Brazil maintains its position as the second largest pesticide market in the world. United States is the only country that sales more than Brazil, a total of US$ 12.9 billion last year, according to USDA (United States Department of Agriculture).

The segment consumed the equivalent of 7.9% of the gross value of Brazilian agricultural production, estimated by the government in R$ 246.2 billion last year (US$ 123 billion).

Data on the Brazilian market were presented by representatives of Sindag (National Union of Pesticide Industry) and Andef (Association of Plant Protection).

According to the authorities, insecticides accounted for half of the growth and they were, for the second consecutive year. This category generated revenue of US$ 3.6 billion, 22.4% increase over to 2011, equivalent to US$ 660 million. Its share in total revenue increased from 35% to 38%.

Insecticide segment has the higher added value for agricultural chemical industry. It is responsible for almost 40% of the revenue, representing only 22% of the volume.

The executive director of Andef, Eduardo Daher, says that pesticide sales were due to the increase of caterpillars, despite the transgenic insect-resistant planted area growth.

The representative recalls the result still does not consider Helicoverpa armigera combat products’ sales, species first identified in Brazil in the 2012/13 crop and which has caused damages of  R$ 2 billion (US$ 990 million) to soybean and cotton producers.

In March, 2013 the government released as an emergency matter the import of pesticides based Emamectin benzoate to fight this new species. "The bollworm will be controlled this year, but we still don’t know at what cost. Producers will face lack of products that were effective and have been prohibited in Brazil," Referring to methamidophos pesticide, Daher says it offers health risks to humans (it was prohibited by Anvisa - Sanitation National Agency).

Herbicide sales increased 14.2% to US$ 3.13 billion last year - the equivalent of 32% of all industry revenue. In volume, the segment grew by 16.9% to 469,720 tons, which represents almost 60% of the total volume of pesticides traded in Brazil.

On the other hand, fungicide market grew only 6.6% to US$ 2.46 billion, while the volume increased 11.3% to 96,990 tons - a reflection of the drought that affected the production of grains in Southern Brazil during the 2011/12 season.

More than 80% of agrochemical sales in Brazil are aimed at five crops: soybeans, sugarcane, corn, cotton and coffee. Soy is the main market for pesticides’ manufacturers. Just last year, the revenue generated by this culture grew 23.6%, reaching US$ 4.56 billion, or 47% of total sales. Only the sale of products to combat soybean rust added up to US$ 1.5 billion.

Sugar cane is the second main target crop. Last year, the segment consumed US$ 1.2 billion in pesticides, an increase of 26.8%. Corn overcame cotton and became the third largest consumer for this input, representing an increase of 23.5%, adding up to US$ 915 million.