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The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has fabricated a soap noodles plant, to help reduce its importation in order to save the economy over N17 billion. [email protected] SHAMA reports.
Soap noodles, (C3H8O3), HS Code: 34012000 | CAS NO. : 61790-79-2, are produced by the saponification process of vegetable oils such as palm oil, coconut oil, or animal fats to get salts of fatty acid. Soap noodles are noodle-shaped products formed by the reaction of sodium hydroxide and palm-based fatty acids/tallow. A typical blend of the product comprises varying percentages of palm oil and kernel or coconut oil such as 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, and 90:10. However, 80% palm oil and 20% palm kernel or coconut oil is commonly used. Generally, soap manufacturers purchase soap noodles and add their flavor, fragrances, pigments, and other components to differentiate them from other brands. Once this has been accomplished, the soap is moulded and pressed into its final shape, stamped with the brand and packaged. Different specifications of soap noodles are produced by adding various functional additives, depending on their end-use applications either as toilet soaps, laundry soaps, translucent soaps, high lather soaps, and medicated soaps.
Expectation of noodles market to reach USD 4.9 billion by 2025
The products of soap noodles are also classified. These include household (laundry, toilet), industrial and special soap. Special soap is used primarily in shampooing and medical purposes, whereas industrial soap is employed in the textile industries. Soap noodles are generally available in four types, palm fatty acid noodles (PFA), palm oil saponification noodles (POS), tallow fatty acid noodles (TFA), tallow oil saponification noodles (TOS) depending upon their method of synthesis and raw materials. Their versatilities are derived from the variety of raw materials used and the formulations which allow manufacturers to tailor products to specific needs, whether it’s transparency, gentleness for sensitive skin, or medicinal properties.
The global soap noodles market is expected to reach USD 4.9 billion (four billion nine hundred million seven hundred thousand United States Dollars) by 2025 at a CAGR of 3.9% during the forecast period from 2018-2025.
The key factors contributing to the market growth are rising preference of consumers towards hygienic and high standard of living, awareness for cleanliness and growing demand for the product in end-use industries. Global soap noodles market is expected to grow over the forecast period owing to its increasing demand in soap industry. Among the various segments in soap noodles market, the vegetable oil segment is the most common. Due to its economic nature, manufacturers in various countries have developed their own products by adding various additives and reagents. Moreover, its growing use in toilet soaps, laundry soap, high lather soaps and others, coupled with an abundant supply of palm oil is estimated to drive the market. It is also expected that the increasing use of tallow based soap noodles in developed economies would propel market growth over the assessment period.The applications or use market is classified into household use, special purpose soaps, industrial use, and others. Among these, the household use segment holds the major portion of the market on account of growing use of the product in toilet soaps, washing soaps, and others. The extensive use of soap noodles in special purpose soaps producing industries such as herbal soaps, Aaromatherapy soaps, and others, is also set to drive the market during the forecast period. Moreover, the textile industry is also witnessing a higher growth due to an increased consumption of industrial soaps.Developing countries in Asia Pacific are highly dependent on palm oil for soap noodle production. The availability of palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia is the major factor attributable to the growth. In China and Japan, animal fat is mostly used for soap noodles production. Tallow is also commonly used in North and Latin American countries due to abundant availability of tallow at low cost in the region. Products containing coconut oil or kernel oil have huge demand in Southeast Asia, while increasing popularity of PFA is expected to drive the demand for the product in the U.S.A and UK owing its superior quality. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the growing shift towards the use of liquid soaps and gels in developed countries may be a major market restraining factor in the coming years.In Nigeria, the beauty and personal care market is estimated to grow at 5 to 10 percent Cumulative Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) within the period. Toilet soap is one of the most essential house-hold items used daily in the country. It has regular demand in the market place making soap manufacturing a lucrative and profitable investment. The market for toilet soap is national and with a population estimated at over 200 million with an annual growth rate of 5.7%, and an average economic growth rate of 3.5% per annum, Nigeria has a large market for soap.Due to these statistics, the consumption and usage of soap for personal hygiene and general cleanliness per household is rising and the importance cannot be over-emphasized. Despite these, with the availability of raw materials for production of soap noodles, the country still expends huge foreign exchange for the importation of soap noodles with little local production. In 2022, Nigeria imported 35,811MT of soap noodles valued at over N17b.
RMRDC initiative to stop importation
Absence of local technology has hindered progress, to obviate this situation and consequently promote local production, the Council promoted production of improved varieties of major oilseeds such as palm nut, groundnut, sunflower, sesame, coconut, cotton seed, soybean, castor seed, etc., in collaboration with mandated research institutes and private sector operatives in the country. These efforts have led to increased production and productivity of oilseeds in the country. Today, through the initiatives of the council, castor and safflower seeds are being produced and processed in substantial quantities, and, the country is fast becoming a major player in the production of the oil from the oilseeds in West Africa. The recent emphasis on the utilization of non-edible seeds as basic raw materials for some industrial applications is aimed at supporting food security to preserve the edible ones for food. The RMRDC initiative is a welcome one as it dovetailed into the programmes, projects and activities of the Council. In line with its mandates, the Council has been promoting increased production and productivity through its boosting program of various oilseeds in the country for industrial use. The Senate of the National Assembly has requested the Federal Government through a motion to revert to 35% import duty from the current 10% on the importation of soap noodles. The law makers advocated that the increment would make investors to set up manufacturing lines to produce soap noodles and to create jobs in the country. Apart from these, Nigeria is also a major player in the production, processing and utilization of a host of other oilseed plant species such as rubber seed oil, sunflower and safflower seeds, etc. Some of these oilseeds are now being produced and processed locally by SME’s for production of various types of oil that are required in the production of soap noodles. RMRDC has also designed and developed processing facilities for most of the oilseeds for industrial applications.
The Council has designed and fabricated a plant for the local production of soap noodles locally. It is expected that the ongoing commercialization of the project would reduce the importation of soap noodles.
To encourage prospective investors to invest in soap noodles production, the plant has been installed in the RMRDC Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC) in Obasanjo Space Centre at FCT, Abuja. The TIC is established for the purpose of research and development, investment promotion, innovation startups and for teaching and training purposes. The Centre will definitely be instrumental to the establishment several oilseed and soap noodles processing facilities in the Country and for economic diversification, job promotion and industrialization drive of the Country. It will substantially promote job creation and poverty alleviation in the country. This is expected that when fully commercialized, Nigeria will be a major hub for soap noodles producer and exporter in West Africa.
