Pesticide market grows 33% and reaches US$ 1,67 billion

Third representative crop for the agrochemical industry, behind soybeans and corn (1st and 2nd harvests), sugarcane moved US$ 1,67 billion in products in fiscal year 2022, an increase of 33% compared to the previous year. previous cycle (US$ 1,263 billion). The data comes from the new FarmTrak study, from the Kynetec consultancy, which has just been completed. The research involved face-to-face interviews with 500 plant producers and raw material suppliers, in 243 cities, from last October to January this year.

According to the survey, herbicides and insecticides once again pushed the sector's sales upward. The first corresponded to 55% of the industry's performance: they jumped 40%, to US$ 921 million, against US$ 656 million in 2021. Insecticides, responsible for 37% of business, increased 23%, from US$ 497 million to US$613 million. According to Kynetec, the market growth in dollars was due to the increase in the cost of some products and a greater number of applications.

According to Kynetec's market intelligence coordinator, Vitor Hugo Leite, the insecticides segment is the fastest growing group of products in relative terms, crop after crop. “The area treated by these inputs almost doubled from 2015 to 2022, from 12,6 million hectares to 23,4 million hectares. There was also a relevant increase in the use of biological products.”

According to Leite, the increase in the agronomic importance of sugarcane borer and leafhopper pests, in addition to soil insects such as Sphenophorus, termites and migdolus, has led grass producers to intensify treatments. “In terms of market value, leafhoppers increased the demand for insecticides by 36% in 2022. Transactions in the subsegment grew from US$168 million to US$228 million.”

Other products and regionalization

The FarmTrak Sugarcane survey also showed that the area planted with the grass remained in the range of 9,2 million hectares. The total area treated (PAT) by pesticides in fiscal year 2022, highlights Kynetec, was approximately 23% above the previous harvest: 79 million hectares, against 64 million hectares.

According to Kynetec, fungicides were in third place in the ranking of sugarcane agrochemicals. Such products corresponded to 4% of the total market: US$61 million, a number 32% higher compared to 2021 (US$46 million). Growth regulators and other products - adjuvants, PH reducers, inoculants and oils, above all - accounted for 4% of the market, totaling US$ 79 million. “These remained stable from one year to the next”, emphasizes Leite.

Still according to Vitor Leite, sugarcane cultivation remains “quite regionalized”, mainly concentrated in the Southeast region, with the state of SP being the most relevant in production and area: 53% of the total or 4,9 million hectares. The Central-West covers 22% of sugarcane fields: two million hectares. MG and ES account for 10%: 917 thousand hectares. In the South, Paraná has 580 thousand hectares or 6%. In the Northeast, AL, BA, PB and PE have 8% or 759 thousand hectares.