AgroPages-Multinationals Mitsui and ISK join Ourofino Agrociência in the development of tropical agriculture-Agricultural news

Successful stories are always built upon well written chapters. The lines that tell the life story of entrepreneurs Norival Bonamichi and Jardel Massari are a powerful example – two visionaries who have, for over thirty years, contributed to important landmarks in the history of Brazilian agribusiness.

Another one of these chapters was written on the 04th of February 2019, when the lifelong friends and partners initiated a new era for Ourofino Agrociência, a company which has operated for not much more than 8 years in the national crop protection market. The referred date saw a strategical partnership be celebrated among the Brazilian company and the traditional Japanese companies Mitsui and ISK, who now own a share of 20% and 5% of the company respectively.

“Ourofino Agrociência, its clients and suppliers will be positively impacted by the knowledge and investment in new researches which the two companies shall add to the business. Allied to the current management model, which has been successful up to the moment, the partnership shall lever up our strength in the competitive Brazilian agribusiness”, declares Norival Bonamichi, president and co-founder of Ourofino.

Bonamichi’s confidence is not by chance. Having been approached by many companies that saw Ourofino Agrociência, as well as Brazilian Agribusiness, as an immense opportunity, the entrepreneur always had in mind that an eventual agreement should benefit, mainly, rural growers – considering the work Mitsui and ISK have developed globally, in a short period of time novelties shall land the market. “The objective of this partnership is to capture synergy among the companies, so that in a fast and intense way, we may create and share value with the Brazilian grower”, he adds.

Knowledge, structure, investment and commitment are characteristics of the company and shall be a part of the path now so that the projects become a reality. In its 08 year history, Ourofino Agrociência collects lessons learned and many accomplishments. The company has built one of the most modern factories of crop protection products in the world; it has obtained the registration of 35 products and awaits for 22 others for the next three years; it has made its Research and Development structure bigger; it redirected its efforts for the particularities of Brazilian Agriculture; and, finally, it is very close to going over its BRL $1 billion in revenues.

On its turn, Mitsui, is a leader in trading and maintains investments in many areas of business with over 450 affiliated companies. ISK specializes in research and development of new molecules, focusing in the area of chemicals for agriculture. “Through this investment, it will be possible to follow the vanguard of the agriculture market in Brazil and precisely catch the movements of this segment”, explains the General Manager of Mitsui’s Agroscience Division.

The new partnerships of Ourofino Agrociência in detail

What’s next?

When talking about the future, it’s important to know how the market evaluates the partnership. According to Marcos Fava Neves, a specialist in strategic planning for agribusiness, the union of these three companies means more than a habitual financial operation. It means that, considering the strengths of each, Brazilian agriculture will gain solutions that are adapted to its particularities in a fast and precise way, maintaining the purpose which took Ourofino Agrociência to the expressive place it is currently in the market. “With this partnership, the sum of the tangible and intangible assets as market knowledge, clients, productive processes, governance and controls will be shared, allowing the companies to grow together, in an environment with continuous learning, not to mention benefits associated with the portfolio, innovations and investment capacity”.

When asked about the individual benefits to the companies, Fava says: “Ourofino Agrociência will be able to speed its growth, with more resources to invest in innovation. Now, the Japanese companies will gain in knowledge since Ourofino Agrociência represents a development platform so that, together, they succeed in the ever growing Brazilian agribusiness”.

Tetsu Watanabe, general manager of the Agroscience division of Mitsui talks about the partnership.

Reimagine Agro: What led Mitsui and ISK to invest in Brazilian agribusiness?

Tetsu Watanabe: Brazil has the biggest market of crop protection products, approximately 20% of the global Market. Population growth, especially in the emerging economies, has presented itself as a key factor and the expectation is that the Brazilian Market continues to benefit from this trend. Through this investment, it will be possible to follow the vanguard of the agricultural market in Brazil and to take advantage with preciseness of the movements of this segment. Acknowledging the value of this market, we want to contribute to the development of the Brazilian agriculture through varied business of Mitsui, besides differentiated products from ISK.

What do you expect from this partnership?

One of the strong points of Ourofino is gathering information on the needs of the Market for being so close to the Brazilian producers, developing excellent products which serve the demand of the consumers and the climatic conditions of the country. Whilst taking full advantage of Ourofino’s abilities, we expect to broaden the options for products in the market and, with synergy among the companies, speed the integration of operations up and contribute to the development of Brazilian agriculture.