AgroPages-Innospec: Delivering Innovative and Sustainable Solutions in A Rapidly Growing and Evolving Market-Agricultural news

Editor's Note: Innospec is a global supplier of specialty chemicals to the agrochemical market. They have a portfolio of high-quality formulation components for crop protection products that have been proven over time. ″We leverage our innovative ingredient technologies, such as emulsifiers, specialty solvents, wetting agents, dispersants and adjuvants, and our formulation know-how to deliver solutions that blend science and creativity for our customers.″ Dr. Yuliang Wang, the Global Technical Director of the Agrochemical group at Innospec, said in a recent interview with AgroPages.

He also shared their Ag team’s initiatives and activities in meeting the growing demand for sustainable formulation additives. In addition, he revealed their new Global Tech Center in Salisbury, NC, which showcases their continuous commitment and investment in cutting-edge R&D for the agricultural world.

Yuliang Wang
Global Technical Director, Agricultural Chemicals at Innospec Performance Chemicals

Innospec is a global specialty chemical company, does Innospec Agrochemical group provide product and tech support to different regions?

The nature of being a global specialty chemical company increases the necessity to provide strong support to existing customers, prospective customers and collaboration partners. Innospec continues to develop and strengthen its global footprint. The Company has sales teams with technical field and product development resources supporting all the major regions of the world. We separate the world’s market into EAME (Europe, Africa, Middle East), APAC (Asia Pacific and Australasia) and Americas (North America, Latin America). Each is handled by competent, experienced sales team with technical support teams available to assist in the local marketplace, in the development laboratory, or at industry shows and meetings.

As the world’s agrochemical markets change, the growth in these major markets has increased at different rates. Innospec has long term strategies in place, including the sales, technical and manufacturing resources needed to support our customers in each region.

Dr. Yuliang Wang, you have a great experience in the Agrochemical Industry, can you please tell us more about your background and current role at Innospec?

Having spent over two decades in the formulation industry, my journey took on a new direction in February 2020 when I became part of the Innospec Agrochemical team as the Global Technical Director. My focus remains on contributing to the development of novel formulation additives tailored for Agrochemical applications. In my role, I support our global business expansion and provide technical guidance for new product developments. I find it rewarding to collaborate with customers and help them overcome challenges in crop protection innovation.

Innospec agrochemicals formulation additives are well regarded, how would you define your technology platforms and how is Innospec positioning itself to stay ahead of the curve?

With the recent addition of the ENVIOMET DIS, Innospec products are now covering all the formulation types, solvent based, or water based, liquid or solid.

We opened a new technology center at Salisbury, in North Carolina, at the beginning of 2022 and we keep expanding our technology platforms, with active programs in new dispersants, seed treatment and biopesticides formulations. Our customer input has a major contribution to these developments, with a strong focus on collaborative projects. Further on, we consider the farmers perspective and their requirement to have easy-to-use and efficient crop protection products. In our industry, we should not forget the regulatory authorities, that are an important stakeholder, and we are looking at introducing low impact products. This is not specific for this application: Innospec recognize that being a responsible business is key to our continued success.

In recent years people have become increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of agrochemicals. What are Innospec values and vision about agricultural sustainability?

Sustainability and environmental considerations are becoming more and more important in modern agriculture. We believe that the promotion of innovative technologies such as biopesticides will be pivotal to ensure a green transition as well as contribute to ensuring long-term agronomic goals and the food needs for the rapidly growing population.

To reach these targets, biopesticide formulators need a new toolbox of co-formulants having performance, biocompatibility, biodegradability, low ecotoxicity, high renewable carbon index as the new key focuses. These themes are the pillars of our product developments, and we are excited to work on developing the technologies that will positively impact on the world we live in.

We are also committed to using resources as efficiently as possible and minimizing the impact of our operations on the environment. We continuously review advancing technologies and processes so that we can actively seek out opportunities to improve our performance. Thanks to these efforts, our sustainability management system and performance received the EcoVadis Gold Rating in 2022 for the fourth consecutive year.

Do you consider strategic cooperations and joint development projects with crop protection producers to improve the bio-efficacy and stability of microbial formulations?

Absolutely! The dramatic rise in Global Food Consciousness has and will continue to drive rapid transition in the Agrochemical Industry. Innospec has strategically developed expertise in this evolving market segment to meet the demand for a sustainable, environmentally friendlier food supply. Both of our labs in North Carolina, USA and in Ellesmere Port, UK have the full capability for handling biologicals for formulation and development work. In both locations, our staff includes a microbiologist to handle live biological strains that are used to test our library of products as well as the new development products that are targeted for the biological market segment.

Armed with the relevant equipment and expertise, we solicit strategic cooperations and joint development projects from our customers. Combining our formulation and product development expertise with the application and market experience of our customers has proven to be a great formula for new development success. To be a global player in this rapidly growing segment, Innospec knows that it must be innovative, adaptable, and proactive to continue to be a leader in providing solutions for our customers.

Seed treatment has attracted quite some attentions in recent years, does Innospec have development activities in this area?

We have actively engaged in the development of microplastic-free seed treatment formulations in the past several years. Empowered by access to in-house rapid screening and testing equipment, our team diligently undertakes the comprehensive evaluation of an array of formulations. This steadfast pursuit exemplifies our resolute dedication to advancing the frontiers of sustainable and environmentally conscious solutions within the realm of seed treatment technology.

From your tech center, which other new capabilities do you offer to the AG industry?

Our Technology Center boasts a comprehensive array of advanced laboratories tailored to meet the diverse needs of the crop protection formulation industry. From dedicated liquid and dry formulation labs to a specialized biological formulation facility, supported with an integrated microbiology lab, our capabilities are a testament to our commitment to excellence.

In addition, with the advantage of having direct access to the on-site plant production facility, our laboratory can swiftly design and implement scalable processes for commercializing new products. Moreover, we have a dedicated characterization laboratory that can perform various industrial standard tests to verify the quality and performance of our products and formulations. This set of cutting-edge equipment enables us to work closely with customers to meet their specific needs and performance targets.

We are looking forward to forging new collaborative partnerships with industry stakeholders, harnessing the full potential of our labs to drive impactful advancements in the crop protection formulation.