Brazil: Ten agrochemical companies win 16th ‘Best Agribusiness Award’

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

The winners of the 16th edition of the “Best Agribusiness Award” in the “Agricultural Defensives” category was announced recently. 

The award, which is held annually by Revista Globo Rural and Editora Globo, chooses ten agrochemical companies that stood out according to criteria established by the largest agribusiness communication company in Brazil.

Top 10 agrochemical companies win“Best Agribusiness Award”

According to Globo Rural, the launch of new technologies and products boosted the growth of Ihara Brasil, which ranked first in the list. Ihara Brasil has always sought to maintain the pace of sales. José Gonçalves do Amaral, Ihara's President, revealed that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has participated in meetings with executives from various sectors to discuss strategies for overcoming the crisis.

“This helped me considerably in terms of daily reflections and decisions. Sharing our dilemmas with colleagues reassures me, and we also feel better by being able to help others,” said Amaral, who has worked for Ihara for 28 years. Considering this year’s crisis, he stressed that the company's focus is to maintain the pace of its recent growth.

In 2019, Ihara recorded a net profit of R$290 million, 14.44% higher than the previous year. In the same period, net revenue rose by almost 33% to R$2.033 billion. With 739 direct employees, Amaral noted that the company, made up of seven Japanese sub-companies, focuses on strategic studies to foresee the maintenance of its growth for 2021. “Next year, we need to have more than 900 employees in order to achieve our planned growth”, projects the president of Ihara.

Second place in the award’s “Agricultural Defensives” category went to Bequisa, a leader in the Brazilian market because of its line of fumigant insecticides for stored grains. The company was launched in Brazil and was acquired, in November 2007, by the German-based Degesch Group.

The third to tenth places went it Nortox, Adama, Cropchem, Bio Controle, Nufarm, Ourofino, Sipcam Nichino and UPL Brasil.

Among the criteria analyzed by Globo Rural are items such as net revenue, return on equity, total assets, indebtedness, asset turnover, current liquidity, net margin, margin of activity, and assets and net revenue.

The award was assessed based on data collected by the credit assessment company, Serasa Experian, in 2019. “We mapped more than 2,000 companies to shortlist the top 500. Together, these 500 companies earned more than R$918 billion in net revenue and are worth over R$920 billion in assets and R$284 billion in equity. Net sales indicate a 7% increase over the previous edition,” said Leila Martins, COO of Serasa.

In addition to pesticides, the Best Agribusiness Award distinguished the following companies in the following categories:

● Champion of Champions: Bem Brasil

● Small and Medium Champion: Santa Vergínia Agropecuária e Florestal

● Sustainability: Mosaic Fertilizantes

● Largest among the top 500 Agribusiness Companies: Cargill

● Food and Drink: Bem Brasil

● Wholesale and Retail: GPA

● Poultry and Pigs: São Salvador

● Bioenergy: Copersucar

● Foreign Trade: Copersucar S.A

● Cooperatives: Coamo

● Pesticides: Ihara

● Agricultural Machinery and Equipment: Jacto

● Fertilizers: Mosaic

● Fruits, Flowers and Vegetables: Agroterenas Citrus

● Coffee Industry: 3Corações

● Beef Industry: Marfrig

● Soy and Oil Industry: Bunge

● Dairy: Piracanjuba

● Pasta and Flour: Moinhos Anaconda

● Animal Nutrition: Cargill Foods

● Agricultural Production: SLC Agrícola

● Reforestation, Pulp and Paper: Klabin

● Animal Health: Zoetis

● Seeds: Jotabasso

● Agricultural Services: IBS