Vasques named vice president of Sumitomo Latin American operations

Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited (Sumitomo) today announced that Gustavo Vasques has been named vice president of Crop Protection for the Sumitomo Chemical Latin America organization (SCLA). In his new role, Vasques will oversee all development, commercial and operational functions for the SCLA business operation.
 
The Vasques announcement follows a recent strategic restructuring by Sumitomo that created the SCLA business unit—a group dedicated to providing Latin American growers with leading crop management products and active ingredients that are developed and sourced from Sumitomo and strategic industry partners.
 
Mike Donaldson, president and chief executive officer for Sumitomo’s Region Americas operations, said, “The hire of Vasques reinforces our commitment to this important geography. Gustavo brings us strong perspectives from a number of industries and is highly experienced in understanding the distinctive needs and challenges of the Latin American grower. I look forward to working closely with him as we provide our unique portfolio of products and active ingredients to Latin America growers—helping them grow more marketable and profitable crops.”
 
Vasques has a long history with Brazilian and Latin American–focused corporations across a variety of business sectors. Vasques spent more than a decade with Monsanto do Brasil Ltda. At Monsanto, he served as a business manager for the region and oversaw the organization’s seed and traits business. Vasques also held a number of positions within the organization’s food, forage and crop protection divisions.
 
Most recently, Vasques served as general manager for the Brazilian affiliate of Georgia-Pacific, a U.S.-based pulp and paper company. In this role, he managed the company’s Brazilian financial and operational functions. With Georgia-Pacific, Vasques performed a variety of mergers and acquisitions, oversaw contract negotiations, and expanded his responsibilities to other countries within Latin America.

"The positive business environment, along with Sumitomo’s excellent and growing pipeline of innovative products, were strong motivations for me to join this dynamic organization,” said Vasques. “I look forward to supporting continued business growth and leading the operational side of the business alongside the talented professionals already in the organization.”
 
Vasques will work out of the SCLA offices in Sao Paulo beginning June 1.