FCI Trade Summit, Durban: 7 Highlights From Day 1

Clifford Dove (center), managing director ROGER FAYD’HERBE & CO. LTD

The FCI Trade Summit in Durban, South Africa is in full swing. Day one has been rich with facts and figures, networking, as well as future plans for the blossoming agrochemical giant.

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Pesticide Registrar Jonathan Maluta Mudzunga opened the plenary sessions with information to help attendees get a better idea of what they are facing when breaking into the largest crop input market on the continent. Giving them a 15-month timespan for approvals, he said that the Registrar’s office has been working closely with growers associations to shorten the length of time it takes for new products to be registered and get a better feel for what growers really need to build their operations.

In addition, Mudzunga mentioned that South Africa is taking the EU neonicotinoid ban seriously. He said that on May 14, there will be a workshop to discuss and debate how the country should react to the upcoming legislation change.

Korbus Steenekamp, president of CropLife South Africa and country manager of Monsanto, not only gave information regarding the success of the biopesticide market, but also called for better data protection and more stringent residue limits.

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After lunch, Jason Chan of ChemLinked/REACH24H Consulting took on the topic of the Chinese import, export, registration and production trends. Sharing the country’s five-year plan for pesticide development, Chan said that by 2015, the Chinese hope to have more than 50 new varieties of innovative pesticides.

Instead of just telling you what we learned, however, we decided to give the mic to the attendees to share what they found most valuable on the opening day of the Summit. Here are seven highlights from the conference hall and exhibition floor:

1)  “The morning sessions were most interesting to me, especially the information from Kobus Steenekamp, president of Croplife South Africa. Also the specifics about market trends from Jason Chan of ChemLinked made me aware of what we are facing when breaking into this market.” – Clifford Dove, managing director ROGER FAYD’HERBE & CO. LTD

2) “Meeting people from around the world has been the real highlight for me. Furthermore, the facts and figures on market volumes and top products are valuable for any company considering investment.” – Andrew Chan, sales manager Asiatic Agriculture Industries Pte Ltd

3) “The clarity about the actual size of the South African market was important as there have been lots of rumors. In addition, the information on the herbicide market was good.” – Rajesh Agarwal, Executive Director KRISHI RASAYAN EXPORTS PVT. LTD.

4) “The registration rules and information about crops and market shares was great. Africa is new for most companies so we are looking to grow. It is difficult to break into this market from a distance.” – Daisy Wi, vice manager of imports and exports department and Jane Jiang, sales manager, JINGMA CHEMICALS CO., LTD

5) “This is our first time participating in an FCI Trade Summit. We’re getting a good response so far. We have clients in Zambia but are hoping to get into South Africa by being here. All of the information so far has been very clear.” – Jain T, senior executive, LEEDS LIFESCIENCE LIMITED

6) “The CropLife information was the most valuable to us. We are representing Zimbabwe, but the crops in South Africa are different enough that it was good to learn the actual types of things grown here and what is being used on them.” – Yevai G. Goto, director of marketing and finance, CURE CHEM OVERSEAS (PVT.) LTD.

7) “Meeting all of these suppliers has been beneficial. We are based in Zimbabwe and all of these companies have been new to us. Furthermore, we’ve never bought anything from China, so that presence here has been interesting.” – Murray Evens and Robert Currie, SAIWAT TRADING (PVT) LTD

 

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