Flubendiamide
was first founded by a Japanese company called Nihon Nohyaku in 1998. With the
help of Bayer, it finally came into being as a diamide insecticide in 2001. Nowadays,
flubendiamide is widely utilized among soybeans, vegetables, fruit trees,
cotton, gourds, grapes, nut trees, tobacco and tea. However, the patent of flubendiamide
will expire soon in China, more specifically on November 29, 2019.
Earlier in
2015, it was suggested by the Chinese government that application of registration
that refers to flubendiamide used for rice should not be approved anymore.
Besides, all registered products with the same use should be revoked.
At the
moment, only flubendiamide TC from Nihon Nohyaku and Bayer has an approved registration
in China. As for formulation, suspending agent, microemulsion, water
dispersible granule as well as wettable powder are approved. In contrast, when it
comes to compound, only Emamectin benzoate and Molosultap get the approval in
the country. Because of the restricted application of rice, corn and cruciferous
vegetables are confirmed as the registered crops against lepidopteran pests.
Brazil regarded as the biggest market for flubendiamide
in the world
Flubendiamide
was put in the market in 2007. Four years later, flubendiamide reached a global
sales volume of USD 150 million. In 2012, its sales volume ascended to USD 230
million, with the compound annual growth (2007 – 2012) of 87.2%. In the next
year, the global sales volume of flubendiamide reached USD 454 million, increasing
by 93.5% year on year with the compound annual growth (2008 – 2013) of 77.9%.
Due to the
outbreak of bollworms in Brazil, 2014 witnessed the dramatic growth of demands
for flubendiamide in the market. In that year, the global sales volume of flubendiamide
reached its historical peak at the value of USD 530 million, with the compound
annual growth (2009 – 2014) of 67.7%.
Ever since
then, Brazil became the biggest market for flubendiamide in the world, with
India, China, U.S.A. and Japan following in sequence. In 2015, the sales volume
of flubendiamide in Brazil got to USD 228 million, representing 47.7% of the
global market, which was USD 480 million. India was ranked in the second place,
with the sales volume of USD 39 million, accounting for 8.2% of the global
market. The third place went to China with the proportion of 5.3%, while the
U.S.A. only represented 4.1%.
However, at
the beginning of March in 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced
to revoke the registration of flubendiamide in the country. This announcement forced
Bayer to withdraw flubendiamide used for over 200 crops from the list of
registration. In the same year, China made the similar move by banning using flubendiamide
for rice.
Flubendiamide has potential markets for
soybean and cotton in South America
In spite of
the restriction in the U.S. and China, flubendiamide has found its potential
market in South America. In 2016, South America became the greatest regional
market of flubendiamid, with a sales volume of USD205 million, accounting for
46.2% of the global market. Just take Brazil as an example. In terms of the
sales volume, a value of USD 186 million was reached in Brazil in the same
year, which represented 41.9% of the total market. Surprisingly, most of the sales
volume went to soybean.
Instead of
rice, soybean has reached the biggest target for flubendiamide. In 2015, flubendiamide
for soybean had a sales volume of USD 201 million, taking up 41.8% of the
global flubendiamide market. In contrast, flubendiamide for cotton was in the
second place with a sales volume of USD 44 million, representing 9.1% of the global
market. The third place went to the application of corn with a market share of
4.7%, while flubendiamide for rice only accounted for 2.5% of the market share.
Some market insiders speculate that flubendiamide will be still very potential
for soybean and cotton markets in South America and South Asia even after its
expiry of patent on November 29, 2019.
For more
information about China’s insecticides market, please have a look at our
monthly newsletter Insecticides
China News.