Bridge
McPherse Thompson, Assistant Financial News Editor
THE ECONOMIC challenges posed by increased taxation and foreign exchange rate instability notwithstanding, Agricultural Chemicals Plant, one of Jamaica's leading agro-chemical formulation companies, has quietly carved out a niche in the Cuban market and is looking to expand its export business.
The move has been partly informed by its relative success in Cuba, to which it exports herbicides mainly to be used in sugarcane production, as well as vast improvements in its export business overall, which last year increased by 500 per cent to $31.5 million from $6.3 million in 2001.
Agricultural Chemicals, a division of Federated Pharmaceuti-cals and a member of the Lascelles deMercado Group, has also been encouraged by three awards it received from the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) earlier this month for its improvements during the past year.
"This is a major achievement for us," said Cyril Bridge, senior general manager of Agricultural Chemicals and Federated Pharmaceutical Company, during an interview at his Bell Road, Kingston 11 office, recently.
At the JMA awards function, largely because of its penetration of the Cuban market which saw the phenomenal rise in its export base, Agricultural Chemicals won the JMA Past President's Shield for Most Improved Exporter, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology Award for Competitiveness, as well as the JAMPRO Cup for first runner-up Champion Exporter.
The Minister's award was made in recognition of Agricultural Chemicals' increased productivity, its use of local input, research and development, innovation, the uniqueness of its product, staff involvement and its range of markets.
A SIGNIFICANT BREAK
The Agricultural Chemicals plant was established at Salt Island Road, Hill Run, Spanish Town, St. Catherine in 1981 to manufacture chemicals for the local and export markets, Mr. Bridge said.
When the Jamaican Government, through the Export-Import (EX-IM) Bank, established a Cdn$5 million line of credit with Banco de Nacional of Cuba in 1998, Mr. Bridge said, "I immediately saw this as an opportunity to export to Cuba."
However, between 1999 to 2000, Agricultural Chemicals had to go through a process which saw its chemicals first being tried on several farms in Cuba before it was registered.
"The first time we really got any business in Cuba was in 2000, but the big break came in 2002" when the company exported huge volumes of Paraquat, a pesticide the Cubans used in their sugarcane production. Today, the company has 11 products registered in the island nation.
Mr. Bridge emphasised that the company's break into Cuba was significant for them, especially against the background that they won the bid to supply the chemicals over companies vying from the United Kingdom, elsewhere in Europe as well as Asia.
Agricultural Chemicals, which employs about 30 people, also exports to 14 other countries in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
BROADEN EXPORT BASE
Noting that efforts were being made to broaden its export base to countries such as the Dominican Republic, which has a population of about eight million, the general manager said he was confident because "our manufacturing standard is international, the quality of our products, the packaging and presentation compares with any international company."
As a demonstration of those attributes, Mr. Bridge said, Agricultural Chemicals has been chosen to manufacture on contract for Rhone Poulence of France, and is the regional representative for Sumitomo Chemicals, Nippon Soda and Fumakilla, all of Japan.
In addition to expanding its export market, said Mr. Bridge, "I see a shift in our business focus in terms of our advantages of manufacturing the products on behalf of those international companies and shipping it to CARICOM markets, thereby taking advantage of the duty-free status."
A former chairman of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), Mr. Bridge said "My thinking is that you have to do something extraordinary to get extraordinary results. If you have the market you can be as great and successful as any international company."
He said that between 1998 and 1999, the company spent about $2 million to get certified as an international pesticides formulating plant.
"We have representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States come in and certify our plant; and where it's located, in Hill Run, it is of no threat to the environment. That is why we choose to put in there," he said.
The company has also spent "a lot to ensure our products are safe and our plant is safe for our workers and others who use it," Mr. Bridge said.
VAST OPPORTUNITIES
He has also underscored the importance of staff to the continued improvement of the Agricultural Chemicals Plant, as well as the pharmaceutical company, noting that as part of the effort to boost morale, the management has offered cash and other incentives to staff following its success last year.
According to Mr. Bridge, Federated Pharmaceuticals was itself established in 1958 with the motto "First in People" and, largely because of the company's treatment of the staff, "We have never had a strike."
For the general manager himself, beyond the challenges of the difficult economic climate, new taxes on production and exchange rate instability there are vast opportunities.
"If you look hard enough, you will find opportunities," he said, adding that Agricultural Chemicals would now seek to capitalise on those prospects.
