State Of The Industry: Fungicides Take Lead
30 June 2009 For the first time since crop protection trends have been tracked, fungicides edged out insecticides in global market value, according to Phillips McDougall, an industry tracking firm and consultancy. Fungicides posted the biggest gain last year with 31.7% growth as it became the second most profitable class of crop protection products with a global market value of about $10 billion.
Producers, distributors and consultants are taking advantage of higher use rates worldwide, according to FCI’s State of the Industry Survey. Respondents of the survey report most commonly working with fungicides (83.5%) followed closely by insecticides and herbicides. Interestingly, almost half of respondents work with plant growth regulators, fertilizers and seed treatments.
Almost 75% of respondents sold less than 20,000 tonnes of product in 2008, and 60% grossed less than $25 million in revenues last year.
The most desirable market for growth among respondents is Latin America, no doubt to take advantage of the fertile fields of Brazil, which became the No. 1 crop protection market in 2008 with US $7.3 billion value. More than half of respondents desire to grow in Latin America. More than one-third are looking to Southeast Asia for growth; 28% want to expand in North America, and one in every five respondents want to grow in Eastern Europe, India, and Western Europe. These desires to grow in specific markets loosely correspond to current market share and sales.
The majority of respondents produced less than 5,000 tonnes in 2008. Almost one-quarter of respondents do more than 75% of their business abroad.
About Respondents
Before the global recession that has everyone in America clinging to their jobs, the biggest workplace issue was work/life balance. With the penetration of laptop computers, smart phones and virtual private networks, Americans had begun to feel robbed of their free time, which they typically like to spend with their families, especially since 9/11.
Subsequently, most working professionals worried about free time, personal finances and job security. These days, job security continues to be a source of anxiety, but personal time and family life are still the most important things to most Westerners, who sometimes call it “working to live.”
Conversely, respondents to the FCI State of the Industry survey appear to live to work. More than 65% of respondents say their greatest personal concern is being successful in business, versus less than 15% who said it is providing for their family. Perhaps respondents feel connected to their societal important; after all, we do help to feed the world.
To that end, the importance of feeding the world is why 20% of respondents say they enjoy the crop protection industry, but the most popular motivation for being part of the industry is interest in chemistries and technical aspects of the job, 27% of respondents reported. A similar number, 28%, say finding technical solutions is the most satisfying part of their job, while international trade is the most rewarding part of the job for one-third of respondents. Job satisfaction appears to be keeping entrepreneurs in the industry: 60% say they will stay in the industry their entire life; less than 9% of respondents are waiting for something better to come along.
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