Topramezone becomes hot in China; Manufacturers making deployment

Topramezone is the first post-emergence herbicide developed by BASF for application to corn field, which is a 4-HPPD inhibitor and a breakthrough solution to the issue of safety of application of conventional corn herbicides.

Topramezone has a most prominent advantage – safe for corn and after reap crops, being widely used for almost all corn varieties. At the same time, it is of broad herbicidal spectrum, high activity, good mixability and effective control of weeds that are resistant to glyphosate, triazines, ALS inhibitors and ACCase inhibitors.

In 2014, the global sale of topramezone was US$85 million, which rose to a historical high of US$124 million in 2017, ranking fourth among HPPD inhibitor herbicides. In addition, Bayer and Syngenta have reached an agreement to jointly develop HPPD-tolerant soybean, which has contributed to the growth of sale of topramezone. From the global market perspective, the main markets of topramezone include the United States, Germany, China, India, Indonesia and Mexico.

In recent years, with the expiration of BASF’s topramezone patent in China, the Chinese enterprises have been working on development of topramezone technical, which has gradually opened up the market of the Chinese product.

Patent

According to report, BASF filed for two patents in 1998. Thereafter, BASF filed for several consequent topramezone-related patents in the following years, making 23 patent applications in 2013. This shows that BASF is continuing its effort on patent protection even if topramezone technical is about to come off patent, demonstrating the importance of the product. Since 2010, BASF has filed for largest number of topramezone-related patents in China, mainly involving topramezone mixtures with compounds such as amides, esters and azoles.

Registrations

As of August 2023, there have been a total of 55 registrations of topramezone in China, including five registrations of technical material and 50 registrations of formulation. Registrations of formulations include only OD, SC and SE. The major active ingredients that are for mixture include atrazine, terbuthylazine and nicosulfuron, whilst others are butachlor, 2-Methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid, L-glufosinate, ametryn and s-metolachlor.

New launches

In the first half of 2023, Corteva launched three kinds of herbicides in the United States, under the name of Kyro™ herbicides (acetochlor+topramezone+clopyralid). The Kyro™ herbicide is a corn post-emergence solution, which is the first product to premix acetochlor, topramezone and clopyralid into formulation.

Chinese manufacturer’s product deployment

Flagchem

In August 2023, Anhui Ningyitai Technology Co., Ltd, a controlled subsidiary of Jiangsu Flagchem, is about to complete installation of a new topramezone production facility which is expected to start trial production in October. This is a substantial progress of Flagchem’s series of pesticide projects.

Shandong Luba

On January 31, 2023, the Chinese Patent Office disclosed the ″Topramezone Preparation Method″ under disclosure number CN115322185B, as filed by Weifang Xinlu Chemical Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Luba Chemical. The forthcoming L-glufosinate project and the first topramezone production facility of Weifang Xinlu Chemical Co., Ltd are expected to bring Luba Chemical a new source of growth.

Jiangsu Yongan

On July 25, 2022, BSM Chemical, Jiangsu Yongan’s parent company, answered investors’ question of concern through the investor relation platform. The company is currently progressing topramezone’s process research and development as well as industrialized application; the company is ready to file for registration of topramezone technical in due course. 

Sevencontinent

On June 6, 2022, Shandong Yisheng Industries Co., Ltd, a member unit of Sevencontinent, announced launch of a 1,000-ton topramezone project.

Jingbo Agrochem

From August 20th to 26th, 2021, all three technical material production permits filed by Jingbo Agrochem were approved. According to open information, the three technical materials are prothioconazole, topramezone and amino-oligosaccharin.