OREANDA-NEWS. Mitsui & Co., Ltd. has reached an agreement with E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company ("DuPont", Head Office: Delaware, USA) to acquire the global business operations of DuPont's copper fungicide trademark (Kocide(r)).

Under its wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui AgriScience International USA, Mitsui will establish Certis Cu LLC ("CCU"), and CCU will acquire DuPont's copper fungicide business assets. Specifically, Mitsui, through CCU, will acquire DuPont's global copper fungicide trademarks (Kocide(r)), as well as product registrations, registration data, manufacturing know-how (including process patents) of the products, certain third-party contracts, and DuPont's Houston, Texas, copper fungicide production facility.

Also, under the agreement, DuPont will continue to sell Kocide(r) within the Asia Pacific region for a maximum period of five years. In connection with this, Mitsui has agreed to enter into an agreement for the supply and distribution of Kocide(r) to DuPont in the Asia Pacific region, and for copper fungicide mixtures handled by DuPont.

Globally, copper fungicides remain key fungal and bacterial disease management tools for farmers for multi-crop use, including in Japan. The main active ingredient of Kocide(r) is cupric hydroxide, also known as copper (II) hydroxide. It is the hydroxide of metal copper with the chemical formula of Cu(OH)2. Among various types of copper fungicides, cupric hydroxide is widely used as a protectant fungicide for disease control in stand-alone and mixture applications with other fungicides. Cupric hydroxide is registered for use in more than 75 countries globally and in all four major regions of the world, namely North America, Europe, Central and South America and Asia. Copper fungicides are widely used for organically-grown fruits and vegetables, particularly for grapes and citrus fruit.

Mitsui is already engaged in manufacturing and sales of cupric hydroxide based agrochemicals at Spiess Urania in Germany. By the acquisition, Mitsui aims to achieve synergies between the operations of CCU and Spiess Urania and further enhance its competitiveness in the global agrochemical market.