Basf enlarges plant and invests to produce more pesticides and herbicides
DCI
German multinational Basf announced an investment of more than 50 million Euros in the segment of crop protection in Brazil.The resources, which will be invested until next year, will be intended for the construction and expansion of installations in the Chemical Complex of Guaratinguetá, in the State of São Paulo, for the increase of the productive capacity of crops protection products.
According to Alfred Hackenberger, president of the Basf competence center for specialty chemicals research, the company wants to turn the Country into a center in the generation of active principles. "Brazil is surely one of the greatest markets in the agricultural area and should be the setting for many innovations", he said. "That is already taking place. With the laboratory of Guaratinguetá we will adapt the formulations and create the active ingredients fit for the tropical region", completed Walter Dissinger, vice-president of crop protection for Latin America.
According to Basf, investments should increase up to 50% the productive capacity of the plants for crop protection installed in the complex, going from a production that currently varies from 160 thousand tons and 200 thousand tons to 288 thousand tons of pesticides and herbicides a year. The Guaratinguetá plant will also have a new unit which will produce the Standak Top, a product with technology that combines fungicide and insecticide characteristics, aimed to the treatment of soy seeds. According to Dissinger, besides catering to the domestic market, the industrial complex of Guaratinguetá will work as a platform for the entire Latin America.
Besides investing in products Basf will also increase its resources aimed at research. The company will finance research institutes or the very researcher who wants to patent his discovery. In turn, the company will receive the license to develop products and sell them, besides collecting the royalties.