On 15 Nov., Shangyu Nutrichem Co., Ltd. (Shangyu Nutrichem) revealed that the company had finished the expansion and transformation of its mesotrione production line, bringing the total capacity to 4,000 t/a. This expansion will boost Shangyu Nutrichem's competitiveness in the mesotrione market.
Shangyu Nutrichem, established in Nov. 2003, is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nutrichem Co., Ltd. It is located in Hangzhou Bay Shangyu Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province. It has grown into one of the key pesticide enterprises in this zone, with two separate factories there. The southern factory mainly produces pesticides TC and pesticide intermediates, while the northern factory mainly engages in the production of safeners and pesticide formulations; the two production bases are about 4.5 km away from each other.
Mesotrione is one of Shangyu Nutrichem's flagship products. With years of experience, the company has built certain influence in the market. Before the expansion, it had only 600 t/a mesotrione production capacity.
Shangyu Nutrichem will not just stop here. In fact, the mesotrione capacity expansion is only a part of a grand renovation and optimisation project planned in the southern factory. The overall project involves rebuilding some existing workshops, expanding production capacity for existing products, carrying out transformation of and upgrades on old production lines, phasing out backward production equipment and cancelling these products, and setting up new lines for new, promising products. The company is pushing ahead in an orderly manner with other programs planned in the project, such as capacity expansion for the existing products as follows:
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Azoxystrobin TC: expand by 3,400 t/a to a final 4,000 t/a;
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Tebuconazole TC: expand by 2,400 t/a to a final 3,000 t/a;
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Oxyfluorfen TC: expand by 1,800 t/a to a final 3,000 t/a;
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Flumioxazin TC: expand by 900 t/a to a final 1,000 t/a;
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Isoxaflutole TC: expand by 300 t/a to a final 500 t/a.
Returning to mesotrione, the product is a safe, environmental-friendly, broad-spectrum and high-efficacy triketone herbicide with strong herbicidal activity. It has quite good performance in the control of gramineous, broadleaf and sedge weeds. Its application is actively promoted in maize fields.
It is not a surprise that mesotrione has attracted great attentions of Chinese pesticide enterprises in recent years. Indeed, mesotrione TC capacity in China has increased quite obviously; some producers have even extended their reach to the upstream sector—building production capacity for the intermediates 2-nitro-4-methylsulfonylbenzoic acid and 1,3-cyclohexanedione. Incomplete statistics from the China Crop Protection Industry Association (CCPIA) show that, at present, besides Shangyu Nutrichem, major pesticide producers with active mesotrione TC capacity in China are: Jiangsu Youjia Crop Protection Co., Ltd., Shenyang Sciencreat Chemicals Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Zhonggao Chemical Co., Ltd., Anhui Zhongshan Chemical Co., Ltd., Zhangye Dagong Pesticide Chemistry Co., Ltd., Limin Chemical Co., Ltd., Liaoning Longtian Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. and Hubei Guangfulin Biological Products Co., Ltd.
Mesotrione TC capacity in China will continue to grow. Aside from capacity expansion plans of existing players, new players will also join the game. Pesticide producers like Jiangsu Fengshan Group Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Changqing Agrochemical Co., Ltd., Yongnong BioSciences Co., Ltd. and Gansu Ruidong Chemical Co., Ltd. have invested or planned to invest in large-scale mesotrione TC projects. With more producers and production capacity coming, stiffer competition is expected in this market.