AgroPages: Top 10 Stories of 2021

As the clock ticks down to the New Year, AgroPages has rounded up the 10 most-read stories for 2021. As you and we would anticipate, the topics regarding glyphosate, product prices and trends, supply chain, and news about China (the manufacturing and supply center of agrochemical products), are the ones that readers care about most. Let's take a closer look. 

Yellow phosphorus price going down; glyphosate price still on the rise

The price of yellow phosphorus, the raw material, has plummeted from its historic high at RMB60,000-65,000 per ton in mid-September to RMB37,000, a drop of 38%. The sharp price rise and price fall of yellow phosphorus does not seem to influence the price tendency of glyphosate (RMB80,300 per ton in late October). 

Will glyphosate price continue to rise? - Dialogue with suppliers and buyers

Concerning glyphosate's price rise and short supply, AgroPages communicated with global suppliers and buyers.

Ranking List of Global Top 20 Agrochemical Enterprises for FY2020

According to the list, 15 enterprises realized growth in sales in FY2020. These included 10 enterprises that achieved double-digit growth. Total pesticide sales of the top 20 enterprises in FY2020 stood at US$61.8 billion, an increase of 2.9% YoY.

Hurricane Ida affects electricity supply of Monsanto’s American factory, what glyphosate market outlook and price trend are expected?

Through analysis of long-term raw material price index, it is found that the price of glyphosate in China is affected by the price fluctuation of raw materials upstream, but the price impact is not immediately passed on to downstream sectors, which will take some time until downstream sectors are affected. Furthermore, the factors affecting the price fluctuation range are complex. The black swan events in the past two years mentioned in this paper acted like a catalyst, on top of the impacts of Covid-19, dollar devaluation and the global industrial chain restructuring. In this circumstance, the price of glyphosate has skyrocketed (lots of bulk chemical materials appeared the same as glyphosate) to a historical high.

China's pesticide exports accounted for 74% of annual output in 2020; Herbicides pulls up overall pesticide prices in 2021

January to August 2021, China's pesticide exports have reached 941,000 tons, accounting for 76% of production. Overall, the export volume increased by 1.15% in this period, but the value increased by 70%, which means that the value of pesticides soared this year.

Biologicals: the next agricultural technology revolution

Biologicals will replace a large portion of chemical crop-protection products and fertilizers, which together represent a market exceeding $240 billion. The widespread use of biologicals will revolutionize agriculture by triggering a resurgence in the residential beneficial populations that will control pests and diseases and make crops more resilient against biotic and abiotic crop stresses while increasing crop health and yields. 

Hybrids: The future of crop protection – the case of STK Regev as the first hybrid fungicide

New hybrid solutions are now proving a ‘best-of-both-worlds’ opportunity by combining biological and chemical crop protection active ingredients to provide an effective solution. Regev™ EC, by STK, is the first potent hybrid fungicide in the market.

2021CPEW successfully held: Seeking common prosperity in upstream and downstream value chain; Seizing opportunities for business upgrading with China’s industry

The 2021 China Pesticide Exporting Workshop (2021CPEW), organized by AgroPages, was successfully held in Hangzhou, China on 28-29th September, 2021. Despite the postponement of the event due to the spread of the COVID-19, the 2021CPEW still attracted 450 participants from over 200 companies.

Chinese Customs authority increase the frequency and intensity of casual inspection on hazardous chemicals for export, pesticide exporters call for process simplification

AgroPages learned from pesticide exporters that the casual inspection on hazardous chemicals for export conducted by Chinese Customs authority has substantially escalated, where frequency of inspection is excessively high, while taking a longer time and being over stringent. This leads to delay in Customs declaration of pesticides, which could miss shipping schedule and the season of pesticide application in overseas destination markets, having also resulted in increased costs on the exporters.

Formulation Challenges in a Global Environment

Experts from iFormulate Ltd outlined a systematic “Design for Formulation” process of the type that formulators could use to develop a robust product and manufacturing route that meets the expectations not only of the company, but also of its customers and the regulators.