Brazilian Agrochemicals See Strong Growth in 2022/23 on Rising Crop Area and Technology Use

Contributing article by Kynetec

Brazil’s agrochemical market reached an estimated value of $20 billion in the 2022-2023 cycle, representing monumental growth of 43% over the prior year's $14 billion, according to exclusive data from agricultural market research firm Kynetec (Figure 1). Several key factors aligned to drive this rapid expansion, including increased planted area for major crops, higher utilization of advanced crop protection technologies, and persistent strength in global commodity prices.

At the macro level, Brazil’s total crop area rose to 90 million hectares, setting the foundation for robust agrochemical demand. In particular, soybean planting expanded 6% to exceed 42 million hectares while winter corn and wheat also saw gains. This foundational acreage growth, coupled with greater adoption of innovative agrochemical solutions, fueled soaring sales.

Figure 1: Market evolution of Brazilian agrochemical industry (by crop)

Soybeans Maintain Lead Role in Driving Brazil Agrochemical Sales

Diving into market performance by crop, soybeans easily maintained their standing as the largest driver of agrochemical sales in Brazil, reaching an estimated value of $11.4 billion, up 50% from $7.7 billion last year. Within soybeans, herbicides led with a 35% market share at $4.1 billion in sales, as glyphosate prices remained elevated and farmers increased reliance on pre-emergent grass options. Fungicides followed closely behind at a 33% share and $3.7 billion (a growth of 43%) driven by high demand for Asian soybean rust prevention. The third category in the survey, insecticides, also drove the sector's performance: it reached 21% of the amount of $2.4 billion, compared to $1.721 billion in the previous cycle, a 40% jump (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Soybean agrochemical market performance

Corn also posted strong growth, accounting for $2.8 billion (14%) in estimated agrochemical sales, a 45% increase compared with previous year. 

Sugarcane rose to become Brazil’s third largest crop protection market at an estimated $1.67 billion, up 33% from the prior year (Figure 3). Rising prices and number of insecticide and herbicide applications fueled surging sales even as acreage held relatively steady around 9 million hectares. Herbicides accounted for 55% of the industry's performance: they jumped 40%, to $921 million, against $656 million in 2021. Insecticides, responsible for 37% of the business, advanced 23%, from $497 million to $613 million. Fungicides ranked third in the ranking of sugarcane agrochemicals. Such products amounted to 4% of the total market: $61 million, a figure 32% higher compared to 2021.

Figure 3: Sugarcane agrochemical market performance

Other crops seeing major growth included wheat, which benefited from high prices and strong export prospects. Wheat pesticide demand reached $470 million in the 2022 winter harvest, a 60% increase over 2021 (Figure 4). Among insecticides, the biggest movement was for 'aphids', around 60% or BRL 134.4 million. According to Kynetec, the conflict in Eastern Europe, as well as weather problems in Argentina and the favorable exchange rate for exports from Brazil boosted the wheat harvest, which demanded more inputs. Herbicides led the sale of agrochemicals in wheat, with R$ 1.2 billion in sales and 47% of the total, a growth of 103% compared to the 2021 harvest. Foliar fungicides appear in the second position: BRL 743 million or 30% of the total, up 47%. Foliar insecticides and inputs for seed treatment maintained participation: each segment accumulated 10% of sales, BRL 224 million and BRL 177 million.

Figure 4: Wheat agrochemical market performance

Coffee cultivation in Brazil handled BRL2.7 billion in pesticide products in the 2022-23 harvest, an increase of around 17% compared to the previous cycle. Coffee is the fifth largest crop that buys the most protection products from the Brazilian pesticide industry.

Foliar fungicides led sales, jumping from BRL674 million to BRL759 million, or 28% of the market, an increase of 13%. Herbicides came in second place and accounted for 27% of transactions, a growth of 32%. Insecticide sales reached BRL434 million or 16% of the total, a rise of 16%.

Herbicides Hold Top Spot

Shifting to a category view, herbicides solidified their position as the top-selling crop protection product type in Brazil. Estimated sales reached $7.3 billion across all crops, driven by the higher costs of key active ingredients like glyphosate. This represented a 61% increase over the prior year’s $4.6 billion.

Insecticides and fungicides battled for second place, coming in at an estimated $5.344 billion and $5.335 billion, respectively. The order flipped from 2021 when fungicides held the second place position. Growth rates were similar for both categories, up 35% for insecticides and 36% for fungicides, as technology use intensified (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Market evolution of Brazilian agrochemical industry (by segment)

Beyond conventional chemicals, Brazil’s nascent market for bio-inputs exhibited continued rapid growth. Sales reached an estimated $560 million in 2021-2022 (the 2022-23 data is not available), up 67% year-over-year. Biologicals accounted for 4% of total sales in Brazil’s crop protection market. Bio-nematicides like Bacillus subtilis continued to dominate the biologicals segment with a 40% share. In second place are bioinsecticides with 30.7% or BRL890 million, followed by bioinoculants with 19.2% or BRL557 million, and biofungicides with 10.5% or BRL306 million.

New Technology Trends Gain Traction

Several product and technology trends are poised to shape the future of Brazil’s crop protection market. On the product front, industry insiders predict pheromones and other semiochemical solutions have strong potential to displace traditional insecticide applications in coming years. Microbial biostimulants are also garnering increasing attention for yield enhancement and stress mitigation.

Meanwhile, precision application techniques enabled by digital agriculture will be critical for optimizing input use efficiency as environmental pressures mount. Remote sensing, variable rate technologies, and predictive analytics using AI will transform agrochemical delivery and timing.

At the crop level, focus is rising on minor segments like coffee, potatoes, and vegetables where technology use has lagged. Bringing these crops up to par with row crops in terms of integrated solutions is a major opportunity.

Cautiously Optimistic 2023/24 Outlook 

According to Kynetec, despite the prospect of new developments in terms area and technology, the Brazilian agrochemicals market is expected to recede in the 2023/24 crop, due to the impact of lower prices of some of its main products, such as glyphosates.

Meanwhile, significant decrease in prices for key actives like glyphosate point to small decrease for Brazil’s crop protection industry this coming year. While the 2022 boom is unlikely to be replicated, Brazil remains well-positioned to drive agricultural technology adoption and supply global crop demand. But the sector must also make sustainability a priority amidst growing environmental concerns. If these needs are addressed, Brazil’s agrochemical trajectory will stay strong for the foreseeable future.

This article was initially published in AgroPages' '2023 Latin America Focus' magazine.

If you would like to share your company's story. Please contact Christina Xie at christina@agropages.com