Santa Clara invests in a line of unique technology in the area of bio-defensives

By Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages

The Brazilian Industry of Inputs, Santa Clara, announced investments to develop a line of unique technology in the area of bio-defensives, revealed Marcelo Vieira Rolim, Technical Director and marketing. 

The Santa Clara Group projects investments above 8% of its gross revenue in Research & Development.

“With this, we were able to generate high quality results to better take advantage of our existing ideas and solutions and we maintained a strong pipeline for the development of new technologies. We are investing heavily in a unique technology line in the area of bio-defensives, in which we have strategic partnerships with Brazilian Industrial Research and Innovation Company (EMBRAPII), São Paulo University, (ESALQ) and Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA). This may result in a new manufacturing plant, dedicated exclusively to this production of this technology,” Rolim stated.

The Santa Clara Group predicted a 43% increase in sales in the 2020-2021 season. This percentage is similar to the increase in the harvest of 2019-2020, when it reached an increase of 44% in sales. This index is seven times higher than the average growth that the sector recorded last year of 6%.

The company's revenue had already doubled in the last two seasons. These positive results are due to the structured strategic planning, which culminated in the expansion of its market share in all key regions of Brazilian agriculture, especially in the states of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná.

“This growth is also based on changing the profile of its distribution channels. We opted for maintaining the number of distributors, but prioritizing those channels with greater geographic coverage, which made it possible for them to make better use of their market access potential,” he added.

A project to expand the foliar fertilizer unity in Jaboticabal (São Paulo) is also underway to maintain the high level of service to rural producers and to manufacture new products in its portfolio, resulting from the intense R&D work. The expansion is already underway, with civil works expected to start in the 2020-2021 harvest and a sequence of investments that should go until the 2022-2023 harvest.

The increase in demand expected by the Santa Clara Group is also due to international sales. The expectation for this year is to triple exports in the 2020-2021 harvest, with its special fertilizer lines, to South and Central America and greater penetration in some European countries.