Northern Technologies International Corporation (NTIC): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're digging into Northern Technologies International Corporation's strategy, trying to see past the noise to what really matters. As someone who's spent two decades analyzing balance sheets, I can tell you the fiscal 2025 story is one of scale versus margin: consolidated net sales reached a solid $84.2 million, with ZERUST® products accounting for $55.2 million, but the gross margin slipped to 37.6%. To understand if this trajectory is sustainable-especially with growth like NTIC China up 14.0%-we need to look at the engine room: their Product, Place, Promotion, and Price. Let's map out the four P's using these fresh figures so you can see exactly where they are focusing their efforts across their 65 country footprint.

Northern Technologies International Corporation (NTIC) - Marketing Mix: Product

You're looking at the core offerings of Northern Technologies International Corporation (NTIC), which centers on two main technology platforms: ZERUST® for corrosion prevention and Natur-Tec® for sustainable materials. These aren't just abstract concepts; they translate directly into the revenue streams you see in the financials.

ZERUST® Corrosion-Inhibiting Products and Services

The ZERUST® platform anchors the business. For the full fiscal year ended August 31, 2025, ZERUST® solutions accounted for $62,488,397 of consolidated net sales, which was 74.2% of the total revenue, showing a slight year-over-year decrease of 1.0%. This segment is further broken down by end-market application, which helps you see where the demand is shifting.

ZERUST® Industrial net sales were a key component, coming in at $55,171,000 in fiscal 2025, representing an increase of 2.4% over the prior year. This is the number you asked about, and to be fair, it's the more stable part of the ZERUST® business right now.

Conversely, ZERUST® Oil and Gas net sales faced headwinds, totaling $7,318,000 for fiscal 2025, a significant drop of 20.7% compared to fiscal 2024. Still, management noted that large customers in this sector continue to re-order products, suggesting recurring demand even with volatility.

The product portfolio under ZERUST® is quite broad, covering various forms of corrosion protection:

• Vapor Corrosion Inhibiting (VCI) products, including plastic and paper packaging.
• Liquids, coatings, rust removers, and cleaners.
• Engineered solutions specifically designed for the oil and gas industry.
• ZERUST® Integrity Solutions, focusing on mitigation services for Oil & Gas and process chemical clients.

Natur-Tec® Bio-based and Compostable Polymer Resin Compounds

The Natur-Tec® segment provides the company's play in sustainable materials, engineering and manufacturing biobased and certified compostable plastics meant to replace petroleum-based ones. For fiscal 2025, Natur-Tec® product net sales were $21,746,000, which represented 25.8% of consolidated net sales, also declining by 1.0% year-over-year.

This offering includes both raw materials and finished goods. Here's a quick look at what that $21.7 million represents:

Management highlighted that they are actively developing new Natur-Tec® technologies for greener manufacturing, which is supported by the company's overall Research and Development investment. For fiscal 2025, R&D spend was $5.0 million, with a forecast for fiscal 2026 between $4.9 million and $5.1 million.

Technical Consulting for Comprehensive Corrosion Management Systems

Beyond the physical products, Northern Technologies International Corporation offers technical consulting services. These services are designed to move beyond just selling a product to implementing a full corrosion management system for the customer and their supply chain.

Technical service consultants work directly with end users to analyze specific needs and develop tailored systems to meet technical requirements. This service component is integrated across the ZERUST® offerings, particularly for complex industrial and oil and gas applications.

The financial contribution from joint venture services, which includes fees for services provided to joint ventures, was $5.0 million in fiscal 2025, a decrease of 4.7% from the prior year.

Northern Technologies International Corporation (NTIC) - Marketing Mix: Place

Northern Technologies International Corporation (NTIC) employs a wide-reaching distribution strategy to ensure product availability across its diverse global customer base. This approach relies heavily on a hybrid model combining direct sales with established partner networks.

The physical presence and channel structure supporting NTIC's Place strategy are quite extensive:

• Global reach across over 65 countries via a hybrid model.
• Distribution network includes 15 active joint ventures.
• Operates 12 wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries globally.
• Strategic focus on the South American offshore oil and gas market.

The network of joint ventures is a key component, providing access to global markets with an estimated annual global market potential of $500 million. NTIC maintains these wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia to manage local operations and distribution directly.

Growth within specific international subsidiaries demonstrates the effectiveness of this localized approach. For the full fiscal year 2025, the performance of NTIC China was a notable highlight, showing strong domestic demand.

Here is a look at the financial scale related to the distribution channels for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2025:

The company is actively pursuing growth in specific high-value sectors through these channels. For instance, management accelerated product innovation and pursued emerging opportunities in the South American offshore oil and gas sector, which typically involves long sales cycles and slow integration processes with customers.

The performance of the joint venture segment, which is not consolidated into NTIC's primary financial results, shows the dynamics of this channel. While overall joint venture sales for fiscal 2025 declined 4.9% compared to the prior fiscal period, the fourth quarter showed a rebound with sales increasing 4.7% year-over-year to $24.4 million. This fluctuation is often tied to macroeconomic conditions in key regions, such as European weakness impacting the German joint venture, EXCOR.

The structure of the global footprint can be broken down by the types of entities used to reach customers:

• Direct Sales and Agents
• Wholly or Majority-Owned Subsidiaries (12 entities)
• Joint Ventures (15 active entities)
• Independent Distributors

Northern Technologies International Corporation (NTIC) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

Promotion for Northern Technologies International Corporation centers on demonstrating technical expertise, validating growth through major wins, and aligning product benefits with contemporary mandates like sustainability and financial prudence.

Direct Sales Model and Technical Expertise

Northern Technologies International Corporation employs a direct sales model heavily reliant on technical consultation. This approach is a core promotional activity, positioning the company as a problem-solver rather than just a product vendor. NTIC offers worldwide on-site technical consulting for rust and corrosion prevention issues. You'll find that NTIC's technical service consultants work directly with the end users of NTIC's products to analyze their specific needs and develop systems to meet their technical requirements. This consultative selling is crucial for complex industrial and oil and gas applications.

Key Proof Point: Major Contract Win

Securing a milestone multi-year contract serves as a powerful external validation of the promotional message regarding solution efficacy. In November 2025, the 85%-owned subsidiary, Zerust Prevenção de Corrosão S.A. (Zerust Brazil), secured a three-year agreement for advanced corrosion protection solutions for floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units with a leading global engineering, procurement, and construction company. The total estimated value of this agreement is approximately R$70 million (equivalent to US$13 million). This figure is segmented into approximately R$40 million (US$7.4 million) for materials and R$30 million (US$5.6 million) allocated for engineering and field services. Revenue recognition is projected to ramp during fiscal 2026 and continue through calendar 2028, providing a clear, tangible example of success in a key growth market.

Investment in Oil and Gas Sales Infrastructure

Strategic investments in the ZERUST® oil and gas sales infrastructure are a direct promotional push into that sector, even if the sales cycle is long. During fiscal 2025, NTIC made significant strategic investments in this area, which contributed to an increase in total operating expenses of 6.4% to $37,651,465 compared to fiscal 2024. This investment supports the sales force needed to engage in the long sales cycles typical for corrosion prevention solutions in the oil and gas industry. Despite these efforts, ZERUST® oil and gas net sales decreased 20.7% during fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024, settling at $7,317,704 for the full fiscal year ended August 31, 2025. The Q4 2025 results showed a 29.4% decrease in ZERUST® oil and gas net sales year-over-year for that quarter, partially due to a significant one-time order in the prior year period.

Appealing to Sustainability Mandates with Natur-Tec®

The promotion of the Natur-Tec® business unit directly targets sustainability mandates by emphasizing its bio-based and biodegradable polymer resin compounds. Natur-Tec® is committed to developing technologies that address climate change and support waste management. Its products are compliant to all relevant ASTM and EN standards for compostable plastics and are manufactured to not contain polyfluorinated chemicals (PFAS) or heavy metals. For the full fiscal year 2025, Natur-Tec® product net sales were $21.7 million, a slight decrease of 1.0% year-over-year.

Investor Relations as a Communication Channel

Investor relations communications function to promote the company's strategic narrative of growth potential and financial discipline to the investment community. The communication around the Brazil contract is a key part of this. For the full fiscal year 2025, NTIC reported consolidated net sales of $84.2 million, a 1.0% decrease from the prior year. Management communicated a focus on flattening operating expenses and expanding gross margins to improve profitability in fiscal 2026. Financial discipline was underscored by the quarterly cash dividend being temporarily adjusted to $0.01 per share. The full fiscal year 2025 results showed net income attributable to NTIC plummeted to $18,000 from $5.4 million in fiscal 2024, with earnings per diluted share flat at $0.00.

Key Financial Context for Promotion Strategy (Fiscal Year Ended August 31, 2025):

The promotional efforts are supported by a global footprint, as Northern Technologies International Corporation develops, markets, and sells proprietary products and technical services in over 65 countries either directly or via its network.

• Worldwide on-site technical consulting offered.
• Technical service consultants analyze end-user needs for custom systems.
• Commitment to ESG communicated via Natur-Tec® product compliance (ASTM/EN standards).
• Investor communications highlight the $13 million Brazil contract as strategic validation.
• Investor communications emphasize flattening operating expenses for fiscal 2026.

Northern Technologies International Corporation (NTIC) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're looking at the pricing structure for Northern Technologies International Corporation (NTIC) as of late 2025, which is really about how the company translated its product value into realized revenue and margin performance over the last fiscal year. Price, in this context, is reflected in the top-line results and the resulting profitability, showing the competitive and market pressures faced.

For the full fiscal year 2025, which ended August 31, 2025, Northern Technologies International Corporation reported consolidated net sales of $84,234,000. This represented a slight decrease of 1.0% compared to the prior fiscal year. The pricing realization, or gross profit margin, saw pressure, coming in at 37.6% for fiscal 2025. This was a decline of 210 basis points from the previous year's margin of 39.7%.

The lower margin wasn't due to a simple price cut across the board, but rather what management described as a less profitable mix of sales during fiscal 2025. Honestly, when sales shift toward lower-margin product lines, the average realized price point effectively drops, even if list prices remain firm. Here's a quick look at how the sales mix shifted, which directly impacts the effective pricing realization:

• ZERUST® industrial net sales increased by 2.4% to $55,171,000.
• ZERUST® oil and gas net sales decreased by 20.7% to $7,318,000.
• Natur-Tec® product net sales decreased by 1.0% to $21,746,000.
• NTIC China net sales increased by 14.0% to $16,240,000.

The cost side of the pricing equation also shifted; cost of goods sold as a percentage of net sales increased to 62.4% in fiscal 2025, up from 60.3% in fiscal 2024, partly due to slightly higher raw material prices and reduced pricing on Natur-Tec® products for major customers. This further squeezed the realized price per unit sold.

Pricing strategy also plays out in the company's joint venture performance, which is a key part of their global revenue stream. For fiscal 2025, joint venture operating income decreased by 9.8% to $8,545,000, down from $9,475,000 in the prior year. This decline was on joint venture net sales that decreased by 4.9% to $91,236,000.

The strategic response to these pricing and margin pressures for the upcoming fiscal year 2026 is clear. Northern Technologies International Corporation is focused on expanding gross margins and driving sales in higher-margin areas of its business. This suggests a future pricing strategy that will prioritize the sale of higher-value ZERUST® industrial solutions over lower-margin segments, aiming to improve the overall realized price per dollar of sales.