PETALING JAYA: Fertiliser manufacturer Cropmate Bhd, which will be listed on the ACE Market on Dec 5, will continue to focus on growing and expanding market share for its products.
“Cropmate currently only holds about 2.5% of the fertiliser market share in Malaysia, so there is still plenty of room to grow. And we are looking forward to capturing that growth with our two main segments of fertilisers,” Cropmate sales and technical director Leong Fo Seong told StarBiz The company operates in a niche market. Starting off in 2018, it began producing and supplying two kinds of fertiliser – conventional and speciality.
The conventional fertiliser is used mainly in the palm oil industry, while the speciality segment is used predominantly in durian farming, as well as to grow watermelons, jackfruits and bananas.
For both segments, Cropmate has a fertiliser range for trees of all ages, starting from young, growing and mature.
Leong said for oil palm, planters look forward to a strong yield and a good oil extraction rate, while fertlisers for durians not only help the fruit look good, but retain taste and aroma as well.
He explained that Cropmate is able to achieve all this because of the way it manufactures both, adding that a lot of organic matter, beneficial microbes and different elements are incorporated into its speciality fertiliser which boosts all the traits of a good fruit.
“As an example, during the rainy season, some find durians a bit watery, which also can be felt in the taste. Then when it comes to the aromatic smell of a durian, it is actually the result of the level of amino acids in the fruit while it is growing.
“A fertiliser can change the level of moisture in the fruit as well as the amino acid levels,” he said.
At the moment, Cropmate operates through retailers, with about 400 selling to owners of big farm as well as smaller, family-owned farms across Malaysia.
Leong said Cropmate also exports to Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and more recently, Vietnam.
The largest contributor towards Cropmate’s revenue is conventional fertiliser, and Leong expects it to remain the same going into 2025.
“In 2021, the conventional segment contributed about 94% to our revenue, speciality was only about 6%. Then last year, speciality jumped to 23% and has been consistently growing. By the year-end or early 2025, we expect speciality to hit about 30% and conventional 70%,” he said.
Leong said a number of years ago, fertiliser was mainly imported from Europe, particularly for durians.
“Firstly, you don’t find durians growing in Europe, and the fertiliser made there is mainly for crops like barley and wheat which is what grows well over there.
“So it didn’t make sense that speciality fertiliser for durians was coming from there. The switch is really what helped us grow from 2021 to 2024,” he said.
He also said Vietnam has been a good market for their speciality fertiliser as its own fertiliser industry is expected to keep growing.
Additionally, Leong said China now has a huge demand for durians and remains Malaysia’s top fruit export destination, which will help Cropmate leverage on and grow its market share.
“China grows their own durians but they cannot achieve the kind of quality and quantity that they would like. So they still need to import. And Cropmate will work to penetrate all the durian producing regions within a couple of years,” he said.
As for oil palm, Leong said despite the perception many have about it due to the environmental impacts, he believes it is not a thriving industry.
“Should countries like Malaysia and Indonesia stop planting palm oil, it is likely the world will be in trouble. I don’t think the demand for palm oil will ever go down to zero,” he said.
Leong said no ammonia is used in its fertilisers, while all its raw materials are purchased from ESG-compliant suppliers in their bid to care for the environment.
Leong said post-IPO, Cropmate will be upgrading its machinery as well as setting up a lab for research and development.
Cropmate currently has four production lines in two factories with an annual capacity of 218,000 tonnes a year, and will also be adding automation into its production process.
“There will be automation in the packaging and weighing of raw materials. We are also looking at coming up with a new product, which will not only be good for the environment but also help to increase production.”
