Buenos Aires, December 11th. A few days after the FMC company was awarded by the Agrow’s prizes, we talked with Marketing Manager for the Southern Cone, Mr. Sebastián Camba (photo). We wanted to know about the performance of this awarded company in the region after have taken parts of the chemical business from DuPont.
Currently, the Southern Cone branch is in charge of the operation in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Paraguay. The operation of the “new” FMC in this region started after the acquisition of the Danish company Cheminova, an operation that meant the entrance to the European chemical market, and the incorporation of the Crop Protection portfolio from DuPont.
“This meant the incorporation of more than 2,200 people, most of them from the I+D area, and 27 I+D centers around the world. The nearest is placed in Brazil, where it is also placed our chemicals formulation facility, the largest in Latam”, Mr. Camba explained to www.eFarmNewsAr.com
The Southern Cone branch involves 105 people, with the headquarters in Argentina, office in Santiago de Chile and representatives in the other three countries. The branch is headed by Ademilson Vilella, a former Marketing Manager at Arysta LifeScience and DuPont in Brazil.
“We are proud to show a steady growing during the last 15 years. In 2003 our sales were US$5 million; this year, we are reaching US$150 million, where 60% comes from herbicides, 30% from insecticides and the remaining 10% from fungicides and biologics”, the official remarked.
Mr. Camba stressed the positive impact of the incorporation of the DuPont’s chemical portfolio in their sales, with products highly recognized by farmers like Finesse herbicide or the Coragen insecticide.
“Before the DuPont portfolio incorporation, our sales were around US$100 million. After that, sales grew 50% pushed mostly by the herbicides line”, Mr. Camba referred.
It is that weeds herbicide-resistant are a growing problem for farmers, and supplying chemical solutions open a business opportunity. Our interviewed detailed that FMC was awarded by Agrow for their innovative pipeline. “We have 35 new products in the last stage before its commercial launching. In our region (Southern Cone), currently, we are testing 8 new products and the next year we will add five more, between herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and biologics”, Camba explained.
“We developed new modes-of-action and new molecules families, and all these new products have an environment-friendly profile. FMC is prioritizing the health and the environment in its pipeline”, he added.
Mr. Camba also anticipated the new spraying technology developed by FMC and that was awarded by Agrow. It is a new technology that permits using ultra-low volumes of water. “For example, if today farmers are using from 60 to 80 liters per hectare to spraying Coragen in total cover, now we are talking to use between 5 or 7 liters. This technology is currently implementing in the US, and testing in Brazil. I think it will arrive to Argentina in the next two years”, Camba opined.
The Marketing Manager anticipated that during 2019 FMC will participate in the most relevant congress and fairs in the region, like Expoagro or the Aapresid congress (the no-till farmers association), and that they will present a new fungicide for soybean, and a new biological fungicide for grapevine.
