Fuding Chemical Granted the First Domestic Pesticide Registration Certificate for Saflufenacil in China

Jiangsu Fuding Chemical’s saflufenacil 95% TC has been recently granted full registration, with registration certificate number of PD20250024, as approved on January 16, 2025, valid till January 15, 2030. This is the first-time grant of registration of saflufenacil TC to a Chinese local pesticide manufacturer, which marks Chinese enterprise’s ″zero to one″ breakthrough in production of saflufenacil TC.

Jiangsu Fuding Chemical Co., Ltd was established on September 10, 2012, being registered in Hongze County Salt Chemical Development Zone. Fuding Chemical and its affiliated Jiangsu Futian Agrochemical Co., Ltd possess permit of pesticide production of various formulations WP, SL, EC, SC and OD, supported by its strong production and R&D capabilities. 

For a long time, Fuding Chemical focuses on R&D and production of pesticide technical, having developed a number of key products including penoxsulam, metamifop and fluroxypyr.

Saflufenacil – An appealing burndown herbicide

Saflufenacil is a uracil herbicide developed by BASF, which is a milestone compound of PPO inhibitors, with a wide crop applicability, excellent broadleaf herbicidal spectrum and great potentials in the herbicidal market for application to no-till stubble cleaning, uncultivated land, orchard, legume and wheat fields. 

The unique mechanism of action of saflufenacil lies on its ″addition effect″ when being mixed with glyphosate, which facilitates weeds’ absorption and conduction of glyphosate, causing death of weeds in one to three days after application, to be applied at usually 30-50% reduced amount of glyphosate. Furthermore, it can control a variety of weeds including dicotyledons that are resistant to glyphosate, triazines and sulfonylureas (ALS inhibitors). Meanwhile, the residual soil activity remains effective extendedly up to 60 days.

According to the pesticide information network, there are currently nine saflufenacil product registrations in China, including two technical products and seven formulations. Besides the saflufenacil TC 97.4% registered by BASF, the other one is the saflufenacil 95% TC registered by Fuding Chemical. 

Up to date, the registered saflufenacil formulations in China are primarily mixture products, which are all mixed with glyphosate, being mostly OD formulation, with one WDG and one SC each.

Diversified formulation and type of formulation boosting global market development 

Saflufenacil is regarded by BASF as a most successfully-developed novel herbicide in more than 20 years, which could make its presence as an emerging star product once being released, attributable to its excellent performance, having become a US$100 million-sale product in just four years after market launch. At present, its annual global sale has exceeded US$250 million. 

As the key ingredient of BASF's Kixor^® technology, saflufenacil has been widely used in BASF’s world-renowned herbicide brands such as Sharpen^® and Voraxor^®. Utilizing saflufenacil’s strong herbicidal effect and wide crop applicability, BASF has successfully launched a variety of saflufenacil formulation products mixed with glyphosate, imazethapyr, (R)-dimethenamid, pyroxasulfon and metsulfuron-methyl to the market of Brazil, the United States, Canada, Argentina, Mexico and South Korea, where the products are highly regarded. 

Though the saflufenacil compound patent expired in 2021, BASF maintains its patents in key technologies like the formulation method and crystal form, which still put up a technical barrier to the development of the product by other pesticide manufacturers. Today, Fuding Chemical’s successful registration of saflufenacil 95% TC injects an impetus into the Chinese pesticide industry in support of development of high-end herbicides, paving the way for localized development of saflufenacil in China. 

So far, the saflufenacil formulation registrations are very single products. In the years ahead, if Chinese enterprises are able to develop more saflufenacil mixtures and more types of formulations such as EC and WP, product applications in China will be expanded, which will meet the needs of different planting scenarios and crops in China. In the meantime, as China’s saflufenacil TC and formulation research and production capacity improve, the Chinese pesticide industry is advancing and upgrading towards production of high-end herbicides.  

Jiangsu Fuding Chemical Co., Ltd is open to authorized registration of saflufenacil TC and formulations worldwide; interested parties are welcome to contact: anaxu@jsfmz.com

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