AgroPages-Interview: Sipcam Nichino head talks about plans in Brazil-Agricultural news

Source: Global Agrochemicals

Luiz J. Traldi
CEO of Sipcam Nichino Brasil

CEO of Sipcam Nichino Brasil, Luiz J. Traldi, tells the portal Global Agrochemicals in an interview about his focus on the potential growth of Brazilian agriculture and how the company has structured itself in this scenario. With more than 30 years of experience in agribusiness through important companies in the sector of pesticides, Traldi has already been a marketing manager and strategic planning director of major companies in the country.

With 38 years in Brazil and since 1987 with the Uberaba plant in activity, the Sipcam Group has developed and formulated products in the country. What are the market perspectives of agrochemicals for 2017 and 2018, and what are the strategies for the group in this period?

Brazil is one of the few countries outside of Africa that still has large potentially arable areas to be incorporated into the productive system without the need to drop the native forest. We are talking about approximately 200 million hectares of pasture. If we consider the conversion of only a fourth of this area in agriculture we could nearly double the grain planted area in Brazil. Having said that, there are doubts about the growth potential of Brazilian agriculture when we analyze the mid- and long-term perspectives.

When we analyze short-term expectations, other factors such as currency rate, the stocks in the field and the international prices of agricultural commodities can have a positive or negative impact on the result. That brings us to 2017 and 2018. With the devaluation of the Real, the reduction of the commodities prices and high stocks of some products in the field, we can foresee that the market of pesticide in 2017/2018 will not express its potential. That is, it will not be a surprise if the market does not show growth in these two years. Despite this neutral perspective, Sipcam Nichino Brasil is structured to ensure growth, once we launch the diverse new products to ensure the sustainability of this strategy.

The company has a 50 partnership with the Japanese company Nihon Nohyaku Co. Ltd., which has traditionally developed new molecules. In what way can the Japanese company, which specializes in the sector, generate a competitive differential for Sipcam Nichino in Brazil?

Sipcam Nichino Brasil now has a unique and highly promising portfolio in the Brazilian market with the inclusion of Nichino (Nihon Nohyaku) in the company’s portfolio. The Group Sipcam-Oxin assures us the availability of key post-patent product and the Nichino Group ensures the patented products. This partnership guarantees the offer of a portfolio of products that are more adequate for Brazilian agriculture and, therefore, to the Brazilian farmer.

Brazil has a very vast territory with potential for agricultural production in almost all of its areas. With that, the logistics of ensuring agricultural inputs such as pesticides is a challenge. With experience also in the distribution of agrochemicals, what is the perception of Sipcam Nichino with regard to the distribution chain of these inputs in Brazil and what can be improved?

Any foreigner who visits is impressed with two totally opposed situations related to agriculture in Brazil – our efficiency “within the farm gate” and our carelessness “outside of it” with emphasis on the logistical infrastructure of the country. This reality strengthens our partnership strategy with our distribution system – dealerships and cooperatives. Together, we can improve the Brazilian logistical carelessness and assure the correct product for our true customers – the farmers.

It is a recurrent subject in the market of pesticides, the issues of registration and regulatory procedures. With the experience in this issue, including Sipcam, which are, in your opinion, the main hindrances for the faster regularization of pesticides in the country?

Due to the size and growth potential of the market, Brazil has attracted new interested companies each year to work in the country. This has seen two results potentially opposed – the larger supply of products can eventually assure availability and competitiveness, but, on the other side, it creates a huge demand for new registration procedures to be analyzed by the registering agencies – Mapa, Ibama, and Anvisa. In order to have quicker procedures, the country needs to improve the structure of people as well as operational resources and ‘debureaucratize’ some of the current procedures before registration, such as inclusion of formulators and packages. Other important factors would be the definition of priorities for analysis of these procedures, considering, for instance, emergency phytosanitary demands, companies registering in local plants, as well as the registration of new molecules.

Sipcam Nichino has in its portfolio products that make up a large part of the crops present in the country. What is the company’s vision for the agricultural market currently and which crops could be more attractive for the investments of the group?

Our shareholders are mostly producers of the molecules that we register. As a result, we offer consumers on the Brazilian market the most attractive products based on the variations and levels of effectiveness offered by these molecules. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to offer products that are suitable for different crops being planted in Brazil, while maintaining our focus on creating value for the farmers.