Jardine Distribution, Inc. (JDI), a leading wholesale distributor of various agricultural products, applied construction chemicals and household consumer items, expects to recover this year from a dismal performance last year.
JDI President Edwin Hernandez said they lost easily 10 to 20 percent of sales in 2024 on poor performance of agricultural products, particularly rice.
“We have a good projection, this is a recovery year for us. We are good even if it is just a recovery from last year,” said Hernandez.
“Propsects for agriculture this year should be better especially rice because the Department of Agriculture is looking at 20 million metric ton from 19 MM last year,” he added.
According to Hernandez, sales were down last year on all products related to rice, including seeds, fertilizer and pesticides on poor climate and some areas, including Panay, failed to plant rice. “But is is coming back this year, rain is here,” he said. JDI also doing good with highland vegetable seeds, such as watermelon and cabbage.
JDI’s non-crop chemicals such as household and urban chemical products, such as Solignum, adhesives and sealants, also suffered from the snail-paced registration process at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He lamented that registration of this kind of products at FDA takes years.
Registration, however, for pesticides is faster as it is under the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority of the Department of Agriculture.
JDI is a member company of the Jardine Matheson Group and work within the framework of Jadine Engineering Corp. a company headquartered in Hong Kong and operates throughout Asia.
