Interview: DuPont plans to launch stream of new active ingredients

Shuji Goto, DuPont K.K.’s senior executive operating officer and director, told JCWeb that the company, whose crop-protection business specializes in the sales of active ingredients, plans to swiftly develop and launch new products so as to come out ahead against competition in the market, and to forge close ties with farmers to maximize the effectiveness of its products and spread their use.

How is DuPont K.K. performing these days?

We performed slightly below the industry average last year. Our paddy-herbicide sales declined due to competition from rival products but our other products for vegetable, fruit and paddy cultivation, including our Rynaxypyr insecticide, whose active ingredient is chlorantraniliprole, offset most of the loss in sales. Our global sales rose by 10% in 2010 from the previous year, bolstered by robust demand for Rynaxypyr. We received a lot of favorable feedback from farmers that Rynaxypyr enabled them to grow high-quality and healthy crops. In Japan, we recommend to our customers to carry out drenching to ensure pest control and reduce labor. We will make efforts to promote Rynaxypyr to catch up with the strong global performance of the DuPont group. Our Kocide 3000 fungicide/bactericide for fruit and vegetable cultivation, which was launched in January, is easy to handle and control because of high flow ability and reduced drifting. We intend to at least maintain our current market share and will aim for a higher share.

What is DuPont focusing on to maximize the value of active ingredients?

We are prioritizing area-specific marketing and technology dissemination. Through close contact we will propose pest control systems that are optimal for the needs of local sales companies and farmers. In the case of Rynaxypyr, such efforts bore fruits.

What are the prospects for new active ingredients?

We are proceeding with global testing and registrations for Cyazypyr, whose active ingredient is cyntraniprole, as the next active insecticide ingredient after that of Rynaxypyr. In Japan, we will apply for pesticide registration by the end of this year and are expecting market launch in 2014. Our PKF-1011 fungicide against mildew and other fungi is in the second year of contract testing, we are aiming for market launch in 2016. There are several insecticide, fungicide and herbicide candidates in the pipeline of DuPont, our US parent. We plan to launch new active ingredients constantly up to 2020 and to double our sales from the current level as soon as within the next five years.

The stimulation of Japan’s agriculture has become a hot topic.

Our crop-protection business may not be of direct help, but the DuPont group as a whole will be able to support farmers who wish to expand their businesses. We regard increased food production as a mega trend, and we can contribute to stabilizing global food supply by combining our various businesses such as seeds, pesticides, Solae soy-based products, Qualicon food-safety testing and Danisco, a Danish manufacturer of food ingredients that DuPont acquired recently. We would also like to contribute to the recovery of disaster-hit areas by responding to local needs such as sale contamination caused by the tsunami.

Source: JCWeb