AgroPages-Yangnong Chemical's business income in 2016 registers 6 percent drop, 20,000-ton dicamba project to be commissioned in first half of 2017-Agricultural news

On Apr 11, Jiangsu Yangnong Chemical announced its 2016 annual report. During the report period, the company had recorded a business income of 2.93 billion yuan, 5.95 percent down year-on-year. The net profit attributable to equity holders was 439 million yuan, 3.5 percent down year-on-year.

The 2016 pesticide market experienced, in general, a downturn, which led to greater pressure on the business performance of the company. The hygienic pyrethroid sales of the company in 2016 had dropped quite noticeably by 9.8 percent.

In 2016, the pesticide sales of Yangnong Chemical had risen by 5.2 percent, wherein the herbicide business generated an income of 1.03 billion yuan, 15.2 percent down year-on-year, mainly due to a proportionate fall in the prices of glyphosate and dicamba. The company's direct exports in 2016 were worth 1.818 billion yuan, a year-on-year drop of 7.7 percent.

Currently, there is strong demand for some of the pyrethroids produced by the company, and a price rise is forecast. Among those in high demand is the major product cyhalothrin whose market price rose 20 percent since last November, having reached 170,000 yuan per ton. The business performance of the company looks promising.

The Rudong Phase 2 Project has been running smoothly and is expected to drive the business performance of the company. The Rudong Phase 2 Project is being implemented with an investment of 1.98 billion yuan, and an additional investment of 827 million yuan is being approved for use in ongoing construction work. So far, the project is progressing at a swift pace. The dicamba project, having a partial capacity 20,000 tons, is scheduled for completion and expected to become operational in the first half of the year. The total annual dicamba production capacity following completion of the project will reach 25,000 tons, thereby enabling the company to become the largest vendor of the herbicide in the world. With the promoted planting of dicamba-tolerant GM crops, demand for the herbicide in the global market will increase, which is expected to initiate a new beginning for business operations of the company.