Brazil's agrochemical market surged 43% in 2022/2023

 According to exclusive data from agricultural market research firm Kynetec, the Brazilian agrochemical market is expected to be worth $20 billion in 2022-2023, up 43% from $14 billion in the previous year. Several key factors contributing to this rapid growth include expanded acreage of major crops, increased utilization of advanced crop protection technologies, and continued strength in global commodity prices.

At the macro level, Brazil's total crop area increased to 90 million hectares, setting the stage for strong demand for agrochemicals. Among them, the area under soybean cultivation increased by 6% to more than 42 million hectares, and the area under winter corn and winter wheat also increased. This fundamental acreage growth, coupled with increased adoption of innovative agrochemical solutions, has driven a surge in sales.

Soybeans remain in the lead in driving up agrochemical sales in Brazil 

Based on market performance by crop, soybeans easily maintained their position as the largest driver of agrochemical sales in Brazil, with an estimated value of $11.4 billion, up 50% from $7.7 billion last year. In soybeans, herbicides accounted for 35% of the market with $4.1 billion in sales, due to high prices of Glyphosate and farmers' increasing reliance on pre-emergence herbicides. Fungicides followed with 33% market share and sales of $3.7 billion (up 43%), driven by strong demand to combat soybean rust in Asia. The third category of pesticides surveyed, insecticides, also drove the industry's performance: accounting for 21% of the market with sales of $2.4 billion, a 40% increase compared to $1.721 billion in the previous cycle.

Corn also saw strong growth, with agrochemical sales estimated at $2.8 billion (14 %), up 45% year over year. 

Sugarcane became the third largest crop protection market in Brazil with estimated sales of $1.67 billion, up 33% year-on-year. Although the area under cultivation remained relatively stable at around 9 million hectares, the surge in sales was driven by rising prices and increased application of pesticides and herbicides. Herbicides accounted for 55% of the industry's sales: a 40% jump to $921 million, compared to $656 million in 2021. Pesticides accounted for 37%, a 23% increase from $497 million to $613 million. Fungicides ranked third among sugarcane agrochemicals. Such products accounted for 4% of the total market, or $61 million, an increase of 32% compared to 2021.

Other big growth crops include wheat, which benefits from high prices and strong export prospects. Pesticide demand for the 2022 winter wheat harvest reached $470 million, a 60% increase over 2021. Among insecticides, products used for "aphid" control showed the greatest change, amounting to about 60%, or R $134.4 million. According to Kynetec's analysis, conflict in Eastern Europe, weather problems in Argentina and an exchange rate favorable to Brazilian exports have boosted wheat planting, requiring more inputs. Herbicides led the sales of wheat agrochemicals with sales of R $1.2 billion, accounting for 47% of total sales and an increase of 103% compared to 2021. Foliar fungicides were in second place with sales of R $743 million, accounting for 30% of total sales, up 47% year-on-year. Foliar insecticides and inputs for seed treatment continued their growth momentum: each accounted for 10% of sales at R $224 million and R $177 million, respectively.

 In 2022-2023, the Brazilian coffee growing industry used R $2.7 billion of pesticide products, an increase of about 17% compared to the previous cycle. Coffee is the fifth most purchased crop for protection from the Brazilian pesticide industry. 

Sales of foliar fungicides led the way, rising from R $674 million to R $759 million, representing 28 percent of the market and an increase of 13%. Herbicides came in second, accounting for 27% of the value of the transaction, up 32%. Sales of insecticides amounted to R $434 million, or 16% of total sales, an increase of 16%.

Herbicides topped the list 

In terms of category, the herbicide has consolidated its position as the best-selling crop protection product type in Brazil. Driven by rising costs for key active ingredients such as Glyphosate, herbicide sales across all crops were estimated at $7.3 billion, up 61% from $4.6 billion the previous year. 

Pesticides and fungicides vie for second place, estimated at $5.344 billion and $5.335 billion, respectively. Fungicides came in second in 2021, with a change in the rankings this year. With the strengthening of the application of technology, the growth rates of insecticides and fungicides are gradually approaching, increasing by 35% and 36% respectively

 In addition to traditional chemicals, Brazil's emerging market for biological inputs is also showing continued rapid growth. Sales for 2021-2022 are estimated at $560 million (data for 2022-2023 is not yet available), an increase of 67% year-on-year. Biologics account for 4% of total sales in the Brazilian crop protection market. Biocides such as Bacillus subtilis continue to dominate the biologics segment with a 40% share. In second place were biocides with 30.7 percent or 890 million reais, followed by biovaccinations with 19.2 percent or 557 million reais, and biocides with 10.5 percent or 306 million reais.

New technological trends are popular  

Several product and technology trends will shape the future of the Brazilian crop protection market. On the product side, industry insiders predict that pheromones and other chemical pheromone solutions will most likely replace traditional pesticide applications in the coming years. More and more attention has been paid to the role of microbial biostimulants in increasing yield and alleviating stress. 

At the same time, as environmental pressures increase, precision application technologies enabled by digital agriculture are critical to optimizing the efficiency of input use. Remote sensing, variable dose technology, and predictive analytics using artificial intelligence will change the timing of agrochemical delivery and application. 

At the crop level, secondary areas such as coffee, potatoes and vegetables, where technology has lagged behind, are receiving increasing attention. Elevating these crops to the same level of attention as row crops will create a major opportunity in terms of integrated solutions.

The 2023/2024 outlook is cautiously optimistic 

According to Kynetec, despite new development prospects in terms of fields and technologies, the Brazilian agrochemicals market is expected to shrink in the 2023/24 planting season due to the impact of falling prices of some of its key products, such as glyphosate. 

At the same time, the price of key active substances such as Glyphosate has dropped significantly, indicating a slight decrease in the size of Brazil's crop protection industry next year. While the boom of 2022 is unlikely to be repeated, Brazil still has the capacity to drive the adoption of agricultural technologies to meet global crop demand. But in the context of growing environmental concerns, the industry must also make sustainability a priority. If these needs are met, agrochemical development in Brazil will remain strong for the foreseeable future.