Cosaco

What Cosaco does

Cosaco is a global manufacturer of essential copper salts, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany with a second production facility in Houston, Texas. Formed in early 2022 through the unification of Spiess-Urania Chemicals GmbH (tracing back to 1815) and Kocide LLC (dating to the early 1960s), the company produces copper hydroxide, copper oxychloride, basic copper carbonate, and cuprous oxide, all derived from 100 percent recycled copper. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and employs more than 170 people across production, sales, registration, development, and research.

The company serves agricultural and industrial end markets through two complementary portfolios. Its agricultural offering includes globally recognized brands such as KOCIDE, FUNGURAN, COBOX, and CUPROZIN for crop protection (fungal and bacterial disease control in fruit, nut, and vegetable crops), plus QUESTURAN PRO and PLONURAN DUO trace nutrient fertilizers and basic copper carbonate as an animal feed additive. Its industrial offering covers basic copper carbonate for wood preservation, cuprous oxide for marine antifouling coatings, and high-purity copper salts for specialized uses including catalysts, microelectronics, glass and ceramic coloring, and electroplating. Proprietary production methods yield distinctive acicular particle structures in its copper hydroxide products, and the Hamburg site operates a closed-loop water system with zero wastewater discharge.

Cosaco operates a B2B direct sales model across more than 60 countries, with revenues generated by one-time sales of formulated products and industrial raw materials. It holds a dense regulatory and certification stack spanning ISO 9001, 45001, and 50001, EU Biocides approval, EU feed additive clearance, AAFCO listing, and four organic certifications (EU Organic, ECOCERT, JAS, OMRI), and has achieved EcoVadis Gold status in 2024 and 2025 (96th percentile). Geographic growth is anchored by its two production hubs in Europe and North America, with the Houston plant currently mid-way through a 2020-launched five-year modernization program intended to expand capacity and introduce smart production capabilities.

Name

Cosaco

Legal name

Cosaco GmbH

Website

https://cosaco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cosaco is a Hamburg-based, Mitsui-owned global producer of copper salts (hydroxide, oxychloride, carbonate, cuprous oxide) derived from recycled copper, serving agricultural and industrial customers in 60+ countries with branded crop protection, animal nutrition, wood preservation, antifouling, and specialty industrial products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Chemicals - Copper Compounds

NAICS

Other Basic Inorganic Chemical Manufacturing (325180), Pesticide and Other Agricultural Chemical Manufacturing (32532)

SIC

Industrial Inorganic Chemicals (2810), Chemicals & Allied Products (2800), Miscellaneous Chemical Products (2890)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYIMAEAKAK

Electroplating & Metallization Chemicals (Cu/Ni/Au plating, additives)

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Chemicals & Industrial Materials/Electronic & High-Purity Chemicals

SECONDARYIMAKADAK

Copper Recycling & Secondary Copper Smelting/Refining

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Metals & Mining/Copper Mining & Smelting/Refining

Keywords

• Copper salt production
• Crop protection chemicals
• Industrial copper compounds
• Agricultural fungicides
• Marine antifouling coatings

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Copper Salt Products: Cosaco generates revenue through the manufacture and sale of copper salt products including copper hydroxide, copper oxychloride, basic copper carbonate, and cuprous oxide. Products are sold under globally recognized brands KOCIDE, FUNGURAN, COBOX, and CUPROZIN for agricultural applications, and as raw materials for industrial applications including wood protection, antifouling, and specialty industrial uses.
2. Agricultural Input Products: Sale of formulated crop protection products, micronutrient fertilizers, and feed additives for sustainable and organic agriculture. Products include water dispersible granules (WDG), wettable powders (WP), and suspension concentrates (SC).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Cosaco manufactures and globally distributes essential copper salts — copper hydroxide, copper oxychloride, basic copper carbonate, and cuprous oxide — derived entirely from recycled copper. The portfolio spans agricultural crop protection fungicides and micronutrient fertilizers marketed under brands KOCIDE, FUNGURAN, COBOX, CUPROZIN, QUESTURAN PRO and PLONURAN DUO, as well as industrial raw materials used in wood preservation, marine antifouling coatings, animal feed additives, and specialized applications (microelectronics, catalysts, ceramics, glass, automotive).

Product overview

Cosaco is a global producer of copper salts offering a diverse portfolio of products for agricultural and industrial applications. Their agricultural products are marketed under the globally recognized brands KOCIDE®, FUNGURAN®, COBOX®, and CUPROZIN® for plant protection, along with QUESTURAN® PRO and PLONURAN® DUO for plant nutrition. These include copper hydroxide-based formulations (KOCIDE 2000, KOCIDE 3000, KOCIDE Flow, FUNGURAN 50 WP, FUNGURAN progress, FUNGURAN 300 SC, CUPROZIN progress) and copper oxychloride-based products (COBOX, CUPROZIN 35 WP). For industrial use, Cosaco provides copper hydroxide, basic copper carbonate, copper oxychloride, and cuprous oxide for wood protection, antifouling coatings, and specialized applications including microelectronics, catalyst production, glass, automotive, and electroplating. Basic copper carbonate also serves as a feed additive for animal nutrition. All products are derived from 100% recycled copper with production facilities in Hamburg, Germany and Houston, USA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KOCIDE®: Copper hydroxide-based crop protection products for fungal and bacterial control in fruit, nuts, and vegetables. Includes KOCIDE® 2000, KOCIDE® 3000, and KOCIDE® Flow variants.
• FUNGURAN®
• COBOX®
• CUPROZIN®
• QUESTURAN® PRO
• PLONURAN® DUO

Products and services

• KOCIDE 2000

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero wastewater discharge achieved for decades at Hamburg production facility
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Nufarm: Australia-headquartered crop protection company with a meaningful copper-based fungicide portfolio sold globally. Directly competes with Cosaco's KOCIDE/FUNGURAN/COBOX/CUPROZIN product lines for crop protection shelf space and grower relationships.
• ADAMA: Israel/China-based global crop protection company offering copper fungicides alongside a broad portfolio of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. Directly competes with Cosaco in formulated crop protection products across multiple geographies.

Broad incumbents

• UPL: Indian-headquartered global agrichemical major with broad crop protection and seed treatment offerings. Competes with Cosaco across multiple crop protection categories and geographies, though copper salts are a smaller share of UPL's portfolio.
• BASF: German global chemical major with an Agricultural Solutions division covering fungicides, including copper-based options. Competes with Cosaco in crop protection while also supplying broader industrial chemical markets relevant to Cosaco's industrial product line.
• Bayer Crop Science: Global agrichemical and seed leader with a substantial fungicide portfolio. While not focused on copper salts, it competes with Cosaco's crop protection products through alternative fungicide chemistries and is a key benchmark for global ag-input distribution.
• Corteva: US-headquartered agrichemical and seed company with a broad crop protection portfolio. Competes with Cosaco for grower spend through alternative fungicide chemistries and integrated pest management programs.
• FMC Corporation: US-based agrichemical company with a global crop protection portfolio in insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Competes with Cosaco for crop protection shelf space across multiple regions though not focused specifically on copper salts.

Regional players

• Sumitomo Chemical: Japanese chemical company with crop protection and specialty chemical operations, and historically linked to the same Mitsui-Zaibatsu group as Cosaco's parent Mitsui & Co. Overlaps with Cosaco in crop protection and basic inorganic chemicals across Asia-Pacific markets.

Emerging players

• Nordox: Norway-based specialist producer of cuprous oxide for antifouling and agricultural applications. A direct niche peer to Cosaco in cuprous oxide antifouling markets, though significantly smaller in scale and geographic reach.
• Industrias Químicas del Vallés (IQV): Spain-based specialty manufacturer of copper-based crop protection products and other metal-based fungicides. A direct competitor to Cosaco in formulated copper fungicides across Mediterranean and Southern European markets, with smaller global reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance11 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cosaco