Sumitomo chemical starts direct sales of its pesticides in Vietnam

Sumitomo Chemical kicked off on November 1 the direct supply of its pesticides to sale agents in Vietnam through a 40-member team formed within its subsidiary Sumitomo Chemical Vietnam. Up to then, its subsidiary had been responsible only for registering pesticides and updating their registrations.

The business model is a new one for the Japanese chemical major in Southeast Asia. The establishment of direct marketing routes is anticipated to unify the brand image for Sumitomo pesticides and give impetus to a sales expansion in Vietnam. It plans to further build up its sales network and to push ahead with market cultivation, aiming to boost its annual pesticide sales in this emerging market to 1 bn yen（$12 nm）in three years about five times the current figure.

The company has been selling a wide range of pesticides in Vietnam, with those for paddy application as staple items, but their supply through different trading houses and agrochemical distributors had held back their full penetration of the local market. Agricultural modernization is progressing in the country along with its economic growth, expanding the pesticide market there. As the second largest rice exporting country after Thailand, its demand for paddy pesticides in particular is projected to grow appreciably.

Sumitomo plans to supply through its Vietnamese subsidiary the products of Nufarm Ltd. It acquired a 20% stake in the Australian agrochemical company in April this year (Agronews).
  2010-04-16