The US agricultural chemicals manufacturing industry includes about 700 companies with combined annual revenue of $30 billion. Large companies include divisions of Dow and DuPont and specialized producers such as FMC, Mosaic, and Terra Industries. Many smaller companies are involved in mixing purchased raw materials to produce customized fertilizer compounds with special characteristics.
The industry is highly concentrated. The eight largest producers of phosphate fertilizers generate 90 percent of segment revenue. The eight largest producers of nitrogen fertilizers generate 80 percent of segment revenue. In the pesticide segment, the eight largest producers generate 70 percent of revenue.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Demand for agricultural chemicals depends mainly on demand for various crops, which in turn depends on crop prices. The profitability of individual companies is linked to efficient operations and marketing. Big producers have large economies of scale in production. Smaller companies can compete effectively by making specialty chemicals or fertilizer mixtures for local markets. The industry is capital-intensive: annual revenue per employee at a large plant is close to $700,000.
PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY
Companies manufacture fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides, or produce fertilizer or pesticide mixtures. Fertilizers and pesticides each account for about 50 percent of industry revenue. Fertilizers are a handful of commodity chemicals that contain nitrogen, phosphorous, or potassium. Pesticides are a broader group of chemicals, but many of the biggest sellers are also commodity products.
Nitrogen fertilizers include products like ammonia; urea; ammonium nitrate ...
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