Ihara seeks to double participation in pesticides and herbicides
Valor Econômico
With an eye on the potential of growth of the market of crop protection products in view of the increased domestic production, the Brazilian Ihara has bold plans to sustain its expansion in the country. Over the next five years the company that is controlled by a group of chemical industries of Japan plans to invest more aggressively than it had been doing so far. Today, with a market share of 3.5% of the national market of agrochemicals, the company works with the goal of doubling such participation in the next five years and getting to at least 7% of the market. More confident in the economic stability of Brazil and with great expectations in relation to the agricultural potential, the controllers have already released US$ 26 million to be invested until 2014.
The investments will basically follow two lines, one of short and another of medium term. Still in 2010, the company will make structural changes in its headquarters in Sorocaba (SP). Besides the administrative area it is foreseen the construction of a third line for the formulation of products. US$ 6 million in funds are projected for such works. In the medium term, when the remaining US$ 20 million will be applied, the company bets in projects with the participation of several players, which includes partnerships with research centers and universities, both in the area of chemistry and agriculture. Besides, Ihara will increase its Sorocaba experimental station with the purpose of speeding up the researches carried out in Brazil. "We consider the possibility of having more experimental stations in Brazil in order to gain time. We have a great line of products and we want to speed up the tests in several regions of the country", says the new president of Ihara, Julio Borges Garcia
Ihara ended 2009 with earnings of US$ 233 million, in a market that had nearly US$ 6.6 billion in operations in Brazil, according to estimates of the sector. This year, the expectation of the company is to have earnings of US$ 300 million, an increase of nearly 30%. For the next five years, the goal is to get to US$ 500 million. "We are among the ten largest companies of the market of crop protection products in Brazil and we feel there is demand for a special technical assistance and there is where we intend to operate", says the President of the company.
To reach those goals, Ihara is already carrying out some changes. Ihara shall have 100% of its capital in the hands of the Japanese, who already control the company, until the end of 2010. Today, nearly 20% of the capital of Ihara is withheld by Brazilian companies that in the last years have little by little sold their shares to Nippon soda, Sumitomo Corporation, Kumiai Chemical and Agroinvest Kayatani, currently, the main shareholders. Ihara also intends to grow with the investment in new products for little explored crops. And with the changes, the products for soy should consolidate as leaders, increasing their participation from the current 30% to 50% of the sales of Ihara in the coming years. The agrochemicals for corn and sugarcane should rank second and third, taking the place of cotton that is currently responsible for 36% of the sales.