Can you provide an introduction to Órgano Síntesis and its operations in Mexico?

Founded in 1966, Órgano Síntesis is a chemical company whose mission is to produce chemical specialties for various different markets. Our expertise is in personal care, water treatment, disinfection, and cleaning products. We have a strong focus on biocides and we export our different products to countries all over the world including the US and Japan. We are a medium sized company with around 110 employees and we have managed to grow in 2020 despite the challenges of the pandemic. 2020 has been a very successful year for Órgano Síntesis and, as a result, we are increasing our production.

Órgano Síntesis was recently acquired by Pilot Chemical. How does Órgano Síntesis fit into Pilot’s strategy?

The acquisition with Pilot was a nice process because we found that we are very similar companies that share an entrepreneurial history and family culture. We also share similarities in terms of the kinds of products that we produce and market in the US and Mexico. Pilot and Órgano Síntesis are very well known businesses as a result of having served our local markets for over 60 years. That means we bring a lot of expertise and knowledge to the markets we operate in. We will play a critical role in enabling Pilot Chemical’s strategy to increase growth and innovation, while providing international diversification and a platform for growth in Latin America.

In the past Organo Síntesis generated about 35% of its revenue from toll manufacturing. Have these percentages changed since the merger?

Today our revenue percentages are very different. We are still doing some toll manufacturing for international companies, but producing biocides is an increasingly important part of what we do and we are also producing Mason brand products from Pilot. We produce them here in in Mexico for export to the US market.

Within our biocide catalogue, benzethonium chloride is one of our strengths and it is used in the industrial market and for personal care products. This is a cGMP product and we are producing these kinds of products in accordance with FDA and PMDA regulations. We produce them in Mexico to be exported to the US and Japan.

How has 2020 played out for Órgano Síntesis?

As a result of the pandemic, demand for biocides increased drastically in a short time. In a few months, demand was 2-4x regular levels. The challenge was not just on the production side. It was difficult to obtain enough raw materials from different countries to meet demand in our plant. We are competing with manufacturers all over the world for the same raw materials and demand in Europe and US has been very high.

We think that the challenge for the next few years and in the coming months will be to have enough biocide production and to obtain enough raw materials to meet all the demand from our customers around the world. In particular, our biocides have been in high demand because people are very concerned about cleanliness and disease prevention and therefore, hand sanitizers, disinfectants and cleaning products are playing an important role in creating a safer home and workplace environment. Even into 2021, we are anticipating the biocides market will continue to grow.

What are some of the key objectives Órgano Síntesis is working to reach in the coming years?

We are increasing our plant capacity every year and we want to grow our capacity by a large percentage in the next three years. We will be growing our production by around 88% in 2021 and in subsequent years we plan to produce 30% more each year. Additionally, we do not just want to attend to the local market, we want to work with businesses around the world and to increase our production of Pilot Chemical’s products in Mexico. Our challenge is not only to grow our technical capacity, but also to foster the growth and development of our human talent, which will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our business. We are investing heavily in our people to offer our customers the best quality in the market whilst always keeping the safety of our people and facilities in the first place of our priorities.