Monday, July 02 2003 - KULIM (M) Bhd’s subsidiary Natural OleochemicalsSdn Bhd will double its annual soap noodle output to 90,000 tonnes byyear-end.

The company has opened a new plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor, to facilitatethe increase in production from its current capacity of 45,000 tonnes ayear.

Managing director Ahamad Mohamad said the plant, completed in May at acost of RM18 million, can produce up to 45,000 tonnes of soap noodles ayear.

Soap noodles are made of sodium hydroxide and palm oil-based fatty acids.This semi-finished product forms the base ingredient for the manufactureof soap bars.

Ahamad said China, Japan, South Korea, the US and Europe are among NaturalOleochemicals’ biggest markets.

“In Malaysia, we control 14 per cent of the country’s soap noodle market,he told journalists who visited the new plant in Pasir Gudang yesterday.

Natural Oleochemicals is the second biggest producer of fatty acids andglycerin in Malaysia with an output of 155,000 tonnes per annum, after IOIGroup’s Acid Chemicals Sdn Bhd with 330,000 tonnes per annum.

Currently, there are 10 players in Malaysia’s oleochemical industry.Malaysia is the largest producer of oleochemical products in the regionwith 1.07 million tonnes followed by Indonesia (385,000 tonnes), Thailand(44,000 tonnes) and the Philippines (80,000 tonnes).

Ahamad said he is confident that the oleochemical business can increaseKulim’s turnover for the current financial year.

“We expect oleochemicals to contribute at least half of the group’sturnover, he said.

Oleochemicals earned Kulim RM295.53 million last year, which is a third ofthe group’s total revenue collection.

“We hope to expand our oleochemical operations to strike a good balancewith our palm oil business. The industry can help stabilise Kulim’sturnover whenever palm oil prices drop.