GLOBAL chemical giants, Sumitomo Chemical and BASF, are teaming up to develop a new fungicide.
A new fungicide compound, discovered by Sumitomo, has demonstrated high efficacy for the control of major plant diseases, including those that have developed resistance to other available fungicides.
Both companies plan to separately develop unique formulations with the new compound to complement their portfolios.
Commercialisation of the formulations is expected to begin following registrations and regulatory approval, with submissions in major markets planned from 2018.
“Together with BASF, we will be able to provide more growers with the opportunity to experience the benefits of this new fungicide, which will play an important role in the resistance management of difficult to control plant diseases,” said Sumitomo Chemical’s representative director president of its health and crop sciences sector, Ray Nishimoto.
“Through this partnership, we show our commitment to sustainable agricultural production.”
The strategic venture between BASF and Sumitomo demonstrated both companies’ commitment in investing in solutions to help farmers manage their business, according to BASF’s crop protection division president, Markus Heldt.
The agribusiness collaboration between two of the world’s biggest names in industrial chemical production comes just as two other farm chemical giants, the European-base Syngenta and ChemChina are about to formalise their complete merger.
New Syngenta chairman, Ren Jianxin from ChemChina, and new vice chairman and lead independent director, Michel Demaré, will join with chief executive officer, Erik Fyrwald, on June 27 to launch the business under its new parent company at Syngenta’s headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.
Mega merger activity is also progressing between US companies Dupont and Dow Chemical, and Germany’s Bayer and US giant Monsanto, a persistent player for the Syngenta business until last year.
Local competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last week confirmed it would not oppose the Dow-DuPont deal because competition regulators in Europe and the USA would force the two to divest businesses and products which were similar, therefore not undermining competition.
Australian-born Andrew Liveris, currently Dow’s chief executive officer, is set to be executive chairman of the combined business.
Monsanto shareholders approved the $88 billion merger with Bayer two weeks ago.
They will be paid almost $170 a share when the deal closes late this year, although the ACCC is still to give its green light to the merger’s implications in Australia.
Financial details and the terms and conditions of the BASF-Sumitomo fungicide agreement have not been disclosed.
Sumitomo Chemical is part of one of Japan’s leading conglomerates, with a diverse range of chemical products servicing the petrochemical, energy, IT-related, health and crop science sectors.
Germany’s BASF has 114,000 staff in almost every country in the world covering portfolios ranging from industrial chemicals to functional materials, agriculture and oil and gas.