Insecticides: Cycles

How patent expiries and invasive pests swing insecticide prices

What this tab covers How its prices and margins move: past booms and busts with price levels, the spread or margin that the industry watches, the drivers of the cycle and the metrics to track.

Insecticide prices follow the same Chinese supply and channel inventory cycle as other agrochemicals, plus patent cycles. When a big patented molecule goes generic, Chinese and Indian makers flood in and prices fall by half or more within a few years, as with imidacloprid in the 2000s and diamides in the 2020s (indicative). Pest outbreaks, such as fall armyworm from 2016, create sudden demand. Listed companies show the cycle in revenue: FMC fell from about $4.49 billion in 2023 to $4.25 billion in 2024 and $3.47 billion in 2025, when it put its India business up for sale and began a strategic review (FMC results, Feb 2026) and PI Industries' exports fell 18% in FY2026.

The spread to watch Technical price minus key intermediate cost

Not published. Track margins through PI Industries, Bharat Rasayan, Heranba and Chinese makers' results, and CCM price indices.

Booms and busts

2016-2019
Fall armyworm spread from the Americas to Africa (2016), India (2018) and China (2019), raising maize insecticide demand.
not published
2021-2022
China's energy curbs and freight disruption cut technical supply; distributors overbought.
not published for insecticides; glyphosate tripled in the same period (Bichos de Campo, 2021)
2022-2025
Chlorantraniliprole patents expired in many markets and generics entered; FMC cut prices and its revenue fell.
FMC revenue about $4.49 billion (2023) to about $4.25 billion (2024) (FMC 10-K, indicative)
FY2024-FY2026
Long destocking hit Indian custom manufacturers and exporters.
PI Industries custom synthesis exports Rs 6,579 crore (FY2025) to Rs 5,412 crore (FY2026) (PI Industries, May 2026)

What drives the cycle

Patent expiries. Generic entry cuts prices sharply and moves volume to China and India.
Pest pressure and weather. Warm, humid seasons and invasive pests raise demand quickly.
Regulatory bans. EU and other bans remove old classes and favour newer, costlier products.
Chinese supply. Environmental and energy campaigns change technical availability.

Metrics to track

Metric	Why it matters	Where to track it
Chinese technical price indices	generic price trend	CCM, AgroPages
PI Industries and FMC results	diamide and custom synthesis cycle	company reports
India monsoon and pest reports	domestic demand	IMD, ICAR