USDA Global Agricultural Supply and Demand Report
"Crop Conditions Deteriorate Due to La Nina Impact"
Eco-friendly Crop Protection Manufacturer InBio Replaces Existing Market with Domestic Active Ingredients
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Inbio, a generic crop protection product company, is showing strong performance. The outlook that the global grain price rally will continue for the time being seems to be influencing the stock price.
As of 9:57 a.m. on the 14th, Inbio is trading at 16,100 KRW, up 17.52% from the previous day.
Hwang Byung-jin, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, "Right after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the January World Agriculture Supply & Demand Estimate report, the prices of the three major grains surged simultaneously," adding, "Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) jumped more than 5% from the previous day, surpassing 5 dollars per bushel."
He continued, "Soybean futures also broke through 14 dollars, and wheat futures showed a sharp increase of over 4%."
He emphasized, "The strong grain prices, especially for agricultural products that began in the second half of last year, are expected to continue at least through the first half of this year," adding, "The La Ni?a effect, which worsened U.S. grain crop conditions in the second half of last year, is likely to impact the first quarter with about a 95% probability, making crop deterioration inevitable under dry climate conditions."
He also stated, "Furthermore, the anticipated acceleration of dollar weakness due to the U.S. Blue Wave is expected to support the strong grain prices."
Last year, the average grain price index was the highest since 2014, and oilseed prices reached their highest level in three years. Poor crop conditions, export restrictions by major grain-producing countries due to COVID-19, and a surge in demand caused by increased pig farming in China following the stabilization of African swine fever contributed to this trend.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "We will thoroughly monitor the international agricultural product supply and demand situation and closely review the impact of the international grain supply and demand situation on the domestic industry with related agencies."
Inbio is an eco-friendly crop protection product manufacturer developing natural substance-based crop protection agents that have superior fungicidal and insecticidal effects compared to chemical pesticides. It holds a range of lime-sulfur crop protection products certified for green technology and eco-friendliness.
In the mid to long term, Inbio is conducting a national project for research and development of new substances for fungicides to localize active ingredients. It plans to complete the development of new fungicides within 2024, targeting the global fungicide market worth approximately 20 trillion KRW.
In 2019, the global fungicide market size was about 20 trillion KRW, accounting for 27% of the worldwide crop protection product market. It also accounts for 36% of the domestic crop protection product market, holding a significant share in the crop protection market. There have been reports of decreased control effects due to increased resistance caused by resistance issues with existing products. Inbio believes that by developing alternative active ingredients for crop protection products in this category and replacing some products, it will capture a large market share in the future. Inbio aims to develop fungicide candidate materials with new molecular frameworks.
Since last year, Inbio has been conducting a research project titled "Development of Herbicide and Fungicide Candidate Materials to Solve Global Issues" under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It has been jointly conducting research with the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology since April last year to develop new fungicide candidate materials targeting broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. The newly developed fungicide aims for annual sales of about 350 billion KRW by 2035, which corresponds to 2.1% of the global fungicide market.
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