CHECKOFF NEW PLANTS • Africa—Contract for six 300 tonper-day urea plants for various sites in Africa awarded by N-ReN Corp., Cincinnati, to SD Plants, joint subsidiary of Scientific Design and Technip; first two units being fabricated in Europe for Senegal and Kenya. • Canada—Additional land and buildings purchased by Emery Industries Ltd., subsidiary of Emery Industries, as part of a major expansion in fatty acids and derivatives. • France—Second plant to manufacture nuclear fuel elements planned by Societe Franco-Beige de Fabrication de Combustibles (FBFC) at Romans; first stage to have capacity to produce by 1977 three original fuel cores; FBFC 60% owned by Eurofuel, in which Pechiney-Ugine-Kuhlmann is majority shareholder. • West Germany—Plant to produce 300 tons per day of liquid oxygen, nitrogen, and argon planned by Air Products & Chemicals near Hamburg; to cost more than $10 million; operation scheduled by mid-1977. • Ireland—Plant near Cork to produce Treflan herbicide at unspecified capacity level proposed by Eli Lilly; final decision on the $25 million plant to depend on additional approvals in Ireland. • South Africa—Contract valued at about $25 million for a 1200 tonper-day phosphoric acid plant at Richards Bay north of Durban awarded by Triomf Fertilizer (Pty.) Ltd. Braamfontein to Belgium engineering firm, CoppeeRust S.A. • U.K.—Plant to produce 300 tons per day of liquid oxygen and nitrogen planned by Air Products Ltd., British subsidiary of Air Products & Chemicals, near Glasgow, Scotland, with completion in 1977. PLANT COMPLETED • Taiwan—Caprolactam at Kaohsiung by state-owned Chung Tai Chemical Industries Corp.; capacity of 50,000 metric tons per year to become fully operational late this year after current test operations; second caprolactam plant being built at Toufen to make Taiwan self-sufficient.
Agrochemicals one of few bright spots Agrochemicals provide one of the few bright spots in the otherwise gloomy state of chemicals' current business picture. All told, sales of herbicides, fungicides, and the like, which last year amounted to about $4 billion, are growing about 10% yearly. Moreover, indications are that profit margins are high, perhaps on the order of 25%. Although there doesn't appear to be any slackening in demand for the products, smaller companies in the business likely will find it increasingly difficult to retain their place in the field. This is due to the rising costs involved in satisfying the increasingly stringent toxicological and environmental requirements imposed by authorities in many countries as well as the larger sums needed to come up with innovative developments. These are among the conclusions of a study made by Wood, Mackenzie & Co., a firm of stockbrokers headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. It covers in some depth the current state of the market for the four main agrochemical profit groups—herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and plant growth regulators. Although the study details the role of the U.K. companies, Fisons and Imperial Chemical Industries, in the agrochemicals picture, it doesn't neglect the international leaders in the business. Worldwide there now are some 75 companies involved in supplying the 500 or so agrochemical compounds to today's market. On the other hand, more than 50% of that market is accounted for by some 10 companies. Six—Bayer, BASF, Ciba-Geigy, ICI, Rh6ne-Poulenc and Royal Dutch/ Shell—are headquartered in Western Europe. Four leading U.S.-based companies are Eli Lilly & Co., Monsanto, Standard Oil of California, and Union 'Carbide. An interesting fact that emerged from the profiling of these companies is that Bayer, BASF, Ciba-Geigy, and Eli Lilly also are active in pharmaceuticals. "This is a closely allied area of technology," points out James Cook, the investment analyst who made the study. "It undoubtedly has been in their favor, particularly in the areas of research, toxicological testing, and manufacturing."
Herbicides are fastest growing agrochemical Herbicides Insecticides Fungicides Plant growth regulators TOTAL
1974 sales ($ millions)
Percentage of market
Projected annual growth rate, %
$1560 1320 960
38.2% 32.4 23.5
15% 9 3
240 $4080
Source: Wood, Mackenzie & Co.
14
C&EN June 9, 1975
Agrochemicals, he observes, often are confused with fertilizers. But, he notes, "the two groups perform quite distinct functions in farming. Whereas fertilizers promote the growth of plants by providing additional quantities of basic nutrients, agrochemicals generally are best described as 'loss avoiders' rather than 'yield promoters,' since they act by killing harmful insects, weeds, and disease-causing organisms. Use of crop protection chemicals is directed at optimizing the return to the farmer by reducing yield losses caused by pest problems." The report estimates that at least 80% of today's agrochemical sales are made in the developed countries. North America takes the biggest slice, 45%, "reflecting the important position that herbicides hold in the U.S. and Canada, both of which have high labor costs and large areas of arable crops." Western Europe provides an outlet for 25% of agrochemicals sold and Japan 8%; the rest of the world shares the remaining 22%. Herbicides, which account for the lion's share of the market, were among the earliest agrochemicals developed. In fact, MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid) and 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), introduced in the early 1940's as the first generation of so-called hormone weed killers, still hold an important place in postemergence weed control, particularly among cereal crops. They since have been joined by urea derivatives, triazines, and bipyridyls. Coming a close second to herbicides in terms of annual sales volume are the insecticides. The three most important classes are organochlorine compounds, such as DDT and dieldrin, organophosphates like malathion and parathion, and carbamates. "There is a steady erosion of the market share held by the organochlorines," the study observes, "because of their replacement by organophosphate and carbamate compounds. This has largely resulted from criticisms leveled at the [persistent] organochlorine compounds by environmentalists." Fungicides and plant growth regulators between them make up about a third of the global agrochemicals sales volume. Growth regulators are currently on the periphery of the market. However, they are expected to become increasingly important in the immediate future. D
5.9 100.0%
12 10%
Use
Weed control Pest control Fungal disease control Crop growth modifiers
