Koppert Brazil opens formulations unit and announces investments of R$ 700 million

In constant expansion, Koppert Biological Systems, leader in Brazil and around the world in biological control, expands operations in the country announcing R$ 700 million in investments for the next three years. The amount is being used to increase Koppert Brazil’s production capacity, which starts with the inauguration of the microbiological formulations factory this Wednesday, September 28th, in Charqueada (SP).

According to the industrial director of Koppert Brazil, Danilo Pedrazzoli, the company plans a manufacturing investment in three new production units in Brazil, ensuring the forefront in the Brazilian and global market in biological inputs for agriculture. ″The new formulation unit is located in an area of more than 8,000 m² and will produce the entire line of microbiologicals that has products based on viruses, fungi and bacteria in liquid or solid formulations.″, he explains.

For this unit alone, the investment in the last year was R$ 70 million, generating 70 direct jobs in 2022. ″The formulation unit has up in 15 times the capacity to produce being able to operate in three shifts. It has a high rate of automation and robotization of processes, ensuring more safety and consequent increase in product quality″, says Pedrazzoli.

Growth

The expansions are a consequence of Koppert's growth in Brazil and the Southern Cone (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and the expansion of the biologicals market in these regions. In 2022, the company expects to reach the mark of R$ 800 million in revenue, which represents a growth overcoming 100% in comparison with the previous year. ″We believe that with the expansions we will increase our market share to around 25%, considering the total industrial potential plus the total on-farm potential, or 33%, considering only the industrial sector″, explains the commercial director of Koppert Brazil, Gustavo Herrmann.

The adoption of biopesticides by producers has been growing, advancing in an increasing share of the chemical market. ″High-tech producers, in the search for greater productivity, saw in biological solutions the economic and financial sustainability to reach a higher threshold. What was previously restricted to niche crops such as vegetables and fruits and large-scale crops (potatoes, tomatoes, onions, carrots, peppers and garlic), evolved into large crops such as soybeans and corn. Furthermore, battling against some pests and diseases, the biological control has been recognized by the rural producer as superior than the chemical competitor″, guides Herrmann.

According to CropLife Brazil’s data, the Brazilian market for organic pesticides grows by 30% a year and in 2021 recorded sales of R$ 1.79 billion. In a long-term expectation, the entity indicates that the biological market can expand by 107% by 2030, to R$ 3.69 billion.

The Southern Cone, on the other hand, is still a market with slower growth than Brazil's, but it should reach, this year, a potential of approximately R$ 500 million, according to Herrmann.