The Impact of the Top 3 Strategic Imperatives on the Agricultural Adjuvants Industry

Transformative Mega Trends

• Why:
  • Sustainability remains an important trend disrupting the agrochemicals industry.
  • The Chinese government's environmental regulations and the European Union's (EU's) goals of reducing crop protection chemicals by 50% by 2030 while maintaining soil biodiversity will have strong implications for crop protection chemicals and adjuvants’ adoption.
  • More stringent regulations on the use of crop protection chemicals will continue to drive innovation across adjuvant chemistries.
• Frost Perspective:
  • Focus on reducing the per-hectare use of chemical pesticides will drive the demand for adjuvants that can enhance the efficacy of crop protection chemicals at lower usage rates.
  • Also, the expansion of organic farming practices is driving the demand for organic-certified formulations and adjuvants.
  • The biggest growth opportunity will be for biodegradable, natural, and green adjuvant chemistries, as the adoption of these chemistries will expand in the next 2 to 3 years.

Disruptive Technologies

• Why:
  • Precision farming tools and technologies will significantly impact the use of agrochemicals.
  • The convergence of different sustainable approaches with digital technologies across the value chain will revolutionize agriculture models globally.
  • Changing industry requirements will drive the demand for novel adjuvant chemistries that can work with next-generation spraying modalities and biopesticides while ensuring safety and higher crop yields.
• Frost Perspective:
  • The use of next-generation spraying tools and technologies, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), is expanding globally. These tools and technologies are driving the innovation of more effective crop protection chemical formulations and reducing off-target drift.
  • Another opportunity will be for bio-compatible adjuvants that can improve the stability of all biopesticides. Demand for these chemistries will expand in the next 5 years.

Geopolitical Chaos

• Why:
  • Trade tensions between countries, the Russo-Ukrainian War, post-pandemic supply chain challenges, inflation, and growing pressure on farmers will impact the supply and demand of crop protection chemicals and, therefore, the demand for adjuvants.
  • Climatic changes and increasing pest resistance will continue to hamper crop production and drive demand for more effective crop protection chemicals.
• Frost Perspective:
  • Trade tensions will expand the use of strategies such as local sourcing and dual sourcing in the agrochemicals sector, which will impact the supply chain of adjuvants, which is already too complex.
  • In the US market, the adjuvant supply chain will see more convergence because big agriculture retailers and distributors continue to offer white-label, tank-mix brands.

Scope of Analysis

• This report assesses the growth opportunities across agricultural adjuvants.
• Crop protection chemicals are sometimes augmented with additives to ensure greater efficacy. Two types of adjuvants are in use: Built-in Adjuvants that are a part of the crop protection formulation itself, or Tank-mix Adjuvants that are separate products mixed in with the herbicide, insecticide, or fungicide.
• Also, The Growing Adoption of Precision Agricultural Technologies, Such as Drones and Smart Spraying systems, will Drive the Need for Multifunctional Adjuvants that can prevent drift and improve the retention of pesticides on crops.
• This report Restricted its Research to the Additives that Offer Adjuvant Functionality, as shown in the diagram, and Records Revenues at the Manufacturer Level.

Segmentation

Agricultural Adjuvants

By Function¹

• Drift Control Adjuvants
• Compatibility Adjuvants
• Antifoaming/Defoaming Adjuvants
• Penetration Adjuvants
• Retention & Deposition Adjuvants
• Wetting & Spreading Adjuvants
• pH Buffers/Acidifiers
• Water Conditioning & Softening

By Application

• Insecticides
• Fungicides
• Herbicides
• Others²

By Adoption Stage

• In-can
• Tank-mix

Competitive Environment

Key Competitors

• Croda International plc (Croda)

• Solvay S.A.

• Stepan Company
• Clariant AG
• Evonik Industries AG (Evonik)
• Dow Inc.
• BASF SE
• Nouryon (previously AkzoNobel)
• Momentive Performance Materials, Inc. (Momentive)
• Indorama Ventures (Inclusive of Huntsman and Oxiteno Portfolio)
• Lamberti S.p.A.
• Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (Ashland)
• Stepan Company
• Dow Inc.
• Innospec Inc.
• Ashland
• Momentive
• Ethox Chemicals, LLC
• Kalo Inc.
• Drexel Chemical Company
• Brewer International
• Croda
• Solvay S.A.
• Clariant AG
• Evonik
• BASF SE
• Borregaard
• Wacker Chemie AG (Wacker)
• Elkem
• Nouryon
• Interagro (UK) Ltd
• Lamberti S.p.A.
• Indorama Ventures
• SINVOCHEM
• Kao Corporation
• Hangzhou Siway New Material Technology Co., Ltd (H2siway)
• Jiangxi Tianshen New Materials Co. Ltd (TIS)
• Zhejiang Runhe Chemical New Materials Co., Ltd
• Ingevity