Brazil: Generics already represent 38% of agrochemicals

Generic agrochemicals, or post-patents, already own 38% of the agrochemicals market in Brazil. Last year alone, this sector earned US$3.65 billion (out of a total of $9.6 billion) from herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and seed treatments, according to the National Union of Crop Protection Products Industry (Sindiveg).

According to a survey by German consultancy Kleffmann, Brazil continues to lead the growth in the global agrochemicals market. While the advance in global agrochemical sales is projected to reach 3%, the growth in the country will be 6% until 2019, according to the study. Therefore, the revenue of the generics will jump to $12 billion.

Túlio de Oliveira, executive-director of the Brazilian Association of Generic Agrochemicals (Aenda), explained that this growth is predicted because of the fall in average prices due to the increase of available options on the market.

According to Sindiveg, the volume of post-patent agrochemicals for crops increased by 44.4 thousand tons between 2012 and 2015, having reached 304.9 thousand tons annually. Considering only this indicator, the generics comprise 77% of the products used on crops. The costs of post-patent agrochemicals can be 25% lower on average compared with specialties in Brazil. The data comes from a study developed by Albaugh Brasil, which evaluated the market prices of major agrochemicals in Brazil for soybeans.