Sumitomo Chemical restructures Latin America business organization

Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (SCC) today announced a restructuring that will create a newly named business unit focused on providing crop protection solutions in the Latin American agricultural markets. The new business unit, Sumitomo Chemical Latin America (SCLA) will focus on providing Latin American growers with leading crop management products and active ingredients developed, manufactured and marketed by the new SCLA organization.
 
SCC products and active ingredients have had a growing presence in Latin America since 2004 while operating as the Latin American Division of Valent U.S.A. Corporation. Considering the future growth potential of the Crop Protection market in Latin America, SCC has now established the business unit, SCLA, which will be headquartered out of Sumitomo Chemical do Brazil (SCB) office located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with employees located in all of the key Latin America markets.
 
Mike Donaldson, president and chief executive officer for Valent U.S.A., Valent BioSciences Corporation and Region Americas, who will oversee SCLA organization, said “the newly organized business unit and regional headquarters based out of Brazil will allow SCC to work more closely with regional customers.”
 
"For years, we have been very successful in helping this region’s growers protect their investments and maximize crop potential through our products and active ingredients—including our growing number of traditional chemical and biorational product options,” Donaldson said. “By increasing our presence and resources in Latin America, we will have even closer access to customers in order to improve our service and better understand and anticipate their unique crop needs.”
 
Donaldson will continue to oversee the SCC subsidiaries and business units operating for biorational products globally through Valent BioSciences, and for traditional chemical products in Canada, United States and Mexico through Valent U.S.A., and Central America, Caribbean and South America through SCLA. As part of the restructuring, the SCLA business unit will soon name a vice president of crop protection to lead the new operations. Two veterans of the SCC operating unit in Latin America —Jose P. Fabretti and Luis Paulo Antonialli—will also be important members of the new business unit leadership. Fabretti will oversee the regional sales, marketing and business development efforts; Antonialli will manage the region’s product development and regulatory affairs group. Both Fabretti and Antonialli will report to the vice president. The Sumitomo Chemical Environmental Health and the Animal Nutrition business units will continue to operate from the SCB Sao Paulo office location under separate business unit.