The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (“ZEN-NOH)” and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) are pleased to announce the establishment of a new joint venture for the registration, manufacturing, and distribution of agrochemicals.  The new company, “Z-MC Crop Protection Corporation” (tentative name) will be established in October of this year with ZEN-NOH and MC each holding a 50% share, and will begin operations in the 2018 fiscal year.

 

ZEN-NOH recognizes that lowering agrochemical costs requires seeking out demand and expanding its sales of agrochemical active ingredients^※1 in domestic non-crop markets^※2 as well as overseas, and accelerating the addition of generic (non-patent) agrochemicals to its range of product offerings.  To this end, ZEN-NOH has been working to revamp its structure and corporate profile to better serve its agrochemical manufacturing, trading, and registration^※3 operations.

 

For its part, as it seeks to expand its own business domains, MC has been taking steps to help meet the growing demand for food and agricultural inputs spurred by global population growth through its agrochemical contract manufacturing operations in India and China as well as through its domestic and international distribution businesses.

 

This joint venture is particularly unique as it combines the R&D and registration expertise of ZEN-NOH with MC’s manufacturing experience and global network, and builds a platform on which both companies can maximize their synergies.

 

The new company will facilitate the registration and manufacturing of ZEN-NOH’s active ingredients and other agrochemicals, expand sales of active ingredients and formulations abroad and in non-crop markets in Japan, and source generic agrochemicals that can contribute to better price competitiveness.  The company is aiming to expand sales to 10 billion yen by 2021.

 

By achieving economy of scale through the operations of the new company, ZEN-NOH and MC will jointly contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of Japanese agriculture.

 

※1 Active Ingredient: The core component of an agrochemical that allows it to perform pest-controlling functions. This component is combined with other inert ingredients to create the agrochemical formulation used in the market.

※2  Non-crop market: Usages not related to crop production, such as ornamentals, turf, and roadside weed control.

※3  Registration: Authorization necessary for the production, sales, and usage of agrochemicals, requiring high expertise in obtaining various data demonstrating the safety and effectivity of the product.

【Overview of the Joint Venture】
(1) Company Name:                Z-MC Crop Protection (tentative name)

(2) Establishment:                   October 2017 (Expected date of registration)

(3) Business Activities:            Registration, manufacturing, sales, and international trade of agrochemicals

(4) Capital:                              560 million yen

(5) Shares:                              ZEN-NOH 50% / Mitsubishi Corporation 50%

 

(1) Head Office:                      3-1, Otemachi 1-Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

(2) Established:                      1972

(3) Business Goal:                  All member cooperative unions work together to promote ZEN-NOH businesses, thereby increasing the production efficiency of the work of member farmers, improving their economic conditions, and contributing to the raising of their status in society. Our businesses, which provide production materials, daily necessities, and process and market agricultural products, are conducted with this goal in mind.

(4) Capital:                           115 billion yen

(5) Representative:               Genichi Jinde, President & CEO

 

(1) Head Office:                    3-1, Marunouchi 2-Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

(2) Registered:                     1950

(3) Business Activities:          A globally integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses across virtually every industry through seven groups: Global Environmental & Infrastructure Business; Industrial Finance, Logistics & Development; Energy Business; Metals; Machinery; Chemicals; and Living Essentials.

(4) Capital:                           204 billion yen

(5) Representative:              Takehiko Kakiuchi, President and Chief Executive Officer