Business Insight | How is Helm AG doing?

On March 17, German chemical giant Helm AG announced a strategic partnership with CropX to expand Helm AG’s digital farming solutions. CropX is an agrotechnical company born in the Silicon Valley, the United States, committed to development of the agricultural internet of things, such as soil sensing. This reflects  Helm AG’s strategic direction to support digital farming, which falls in line with its sustainable agriculture ideal. 

How is Helm AG doing? Founded in 1900, Helm is a family business established in Hamburg, Germany. In recent years, the annual global turnover of the company has reached above EUR4 billion. As one the world’s largest chemical marketing companies, Helm AG is engaged in the production and supply of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, crop protection products and fertilizers.

In 2020, Helm AG’s global sales were EUR4.1 billion, down 20% year on year. However, the subsequent production and marketing adjustments, as well as the strategic expansion initiative, could recover Helm AG’s business performance in 2021.

Multiple marketing structure

Helm AG’s feedstock business unit comprises petroleum and natural gas-based primary down-stream products, whilst the product portfolio of the derivatives business unit essentially comprises products that have been further refined downstream. Today, Helm AG’s fertilizer business unit has developed far ahead in crop nutrition, marketing and trading. This business unit is providing support to both manufacturers and distributors,  to fulfill the needs of manufacturers and distributors. 

Helm AG’s crop protection products are mostly insecticides, fungicides and plant growth regulators. Top quality is the hallmark of Helm AG and a cornerstone of Helm AG’s excellent product performance, as well as the basis of cooperation with a large variety of business partners. In respect to its product effectiveness and safety, Helm AG’s way of conducting business is to meet and wherever possible exceed the highest standards. The products of the company have been tested by the official crop protection service in Lower Saxony and North-Rhine-Westphalia. Consequently, the product field trials are conducted at dedicated test stations near Hamburg and in Urbana-Champaign, the United States. 

Helm AG’s insecticides mainly include imidacloprid and diflubenzuron; fungicides include mancozeb, azoxystrobin, tebuconazole, chlorothalonil and difenoconazole; plant growth regulators include trinexapac-ethyl and sulfentrazone. In addition, Helm AG ioffers glyphosate. 

Today, Helm AG’s products are being used by increasing numbers of growers around the globe. Helm AG is collaborating with various laboratories and external auditors worldwide, who review the company’s production and logistics chain at regular intervals. The substantial sums of money spent by the company each year ensure Helm AG’s core promise: “Helm AG stands for top quality from Germany.”

Helm AG’s business network and research work 

Helm AG has been active in agrotechnical cooperation and product research. Since 2018, the company has placed its major marketing force in the U.S. market and South American market. The research and development of the company is concentrated on herbicides, seeds and traits. In 2018, Helm AG’s U.S. corporation acquired BASF’s herbicide business  EXTREME®, an important herbicide variety which U.S. growers rely on.

In May 2020, Helm AG announced plans to develop and launch three novel herbicides, in cooperation with ISK. 

First in the lineup - a new PPO inhibitor herbicide developed from a new ISK molecule for rapid and effective preplant burndown of broadleaf and grass weeds.

Second on the list - a non-selective burndown herbicide for specialty crops featuring a new active ingredient from the ISK development pipeline. 

The third product forthcoming - a co-formulation of the active ingredients tolpyralate and nicosulfuron for selective postemergence broadleaf and grass control in field corn and seed corn.

Helm AG’s Product Research Performance Since 2018

In general, Helm AG’s R & D capability and product performance are presented in the following three aspects: the first, Helm AG’s continuous investment in novel active ingredients and product research to meet market demand; the second, Helm AG's acquisition or investment in agrochemical business has played a key role in enrichment of its product portfolio; the third, Helm AG’s wide range of cooperation with enterprises or research institutions bring about complementary advantages to the company, coupled with its own marketing strength. 

Helm AG’s transformation towards digital farming and low-carbon farming

Digital farming solutions, especially artificial intelligence and Internet of things, are changing the inherent business model of agriculture, which enables traditional agriculture to develop towards the orientation of modern agriculture and low-carbon agriculture. This also includes Helm AG’s transformation to digital farming.

In 2020, Helm AG pre-released its SKYFIELD, a digital farming tool, at Expoagro, Argentina. SKYFLD is Helm AG’s first Software-as-a-Service product that helps farmers cultivate their fields in a more sustainable manner, enabling the targeted application of fertilizer and crop protection products - based on ESA satellite imagery. This product was put into use in the Argentine market in the second half of 2020.

In the same year, Plantix, an App called "plant doctor", received an investment. The “Plant Doctor” App Plantix allows farmers to diagnose their crops via smartphone and suggests tailored treatment in case of pest infestation.

In July 2021, Helm AG announced the setup of the joint venture Qore, in cooperation with Cargill in the United States, with an investment of $3 million to build the first commercial-scale, renewable BDO facility. The Qore joint venture focuses on producing QIRA™, the next-generation 1,4-butanediol (BDO). Made biologically through the fermentation of plant-based sugars, QIRA can save up to 93% of greenhouse gas emissions when replacing today’s widely used chemical intermediates made from traditional fossil sources, to the benefit of optimization of the environmental footprint. 

In March 2022, Helm AG and CropX announced a strategic partnership to tackle the field of data-driven farming. While SKYFLD provides farmers with valid aerial data of their fields and Plantix gives on point analysis right at the plant, CropX provides Helm AG with an additional soil data analysis, which jointly improve the agricultural big data monitor. The digital revolution and the low-carbon transformative development are having a profound impact on global agricultural development, which makes farming more sustainable. 

Helm AG is making its contributions to digital farming and low-carbon transformative development. 

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Liao Wang

Email: wang@agropages.com