Surcos, the largest Argentinean pesticide company, has an ambitious growth plan that includes doubling its production capacity in the coming years. The goal is to meet the domestic demand, but mostly to grow in major markets, such as Russia, Ukraine, and Brazil, the most important market for pesticides globally.
 

With the goal, the company raised AR$250 million, which will be used to amplify the production capacity to supply to the growing demand nationally and internationally. “We are already investing this money to keep up with the local expansion, with new products based on nanotechnology and herbicides, and also for international growth, mostly in Brazil, where we have the exclusiveness of several important hormone products for a period of 20 years,” said Sebastian Calvo, president of Surcos.

 For Brazil, the company plans to sell its products by 2020. The money raised will allow the company to export three products to the neighboring country: 2,4D, dicamba, and picloram.

 “Other similar patents that we received last year were from the wheat capital of the world: Russia, Ukraine, and other surrounding countries. The growth that we are generating in our production capacity which we will double, will also serve to meet the demand that will come in the coming year,” said Calvo.

 

Through these plans, the largest agrochemical company in Argentina will fit in strongly in the most important wheat pole in the world and the strongest pole of soybeans with Brazil and Argentina leading.
 

Calvo explained that in this first stage, the factories located in Florencio Varela (Buenos Aires) and Recreo (Santa Fe) will move from working one-and-a-half shifts to 24-hour ones. He added that there is a plan to double the number of employees at these plants that employ nearly 100 people.

 The president of Surcos explained that he is transforming the company “into a global company with a very strong focus to push productivity, reducing the impact on agriculture in the environment and also on food”. On this path, he said that the company will keep supporting strongly the nanotechnology and looking into biological products.

 “We see ourselves as an innovative company. Therefore, all the managers should dedicate 20% of their time to issues related to innovation. We also have an Innovation Committee that gathers once a month” explained Calvo.