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The Philippine Surfactant Industry has undergone a long history. Its growth has been given a directional push by the passage of Executive Order (EO) No. 259 in 1987. EO 259 mandates the use of indigenous coco-based surfactants, e.g. coconut fatty alcohol sulfates (CFAS). Presently, the soap and detergent industry is formulating its products with a minimum 60% local content primarily using CFAS. The same EO still allows the use of petroleum-based surfactants up to 40% maximum.

RP detergent industry struggles to stay afloat


By MARY ANN LL. REYES

The Philippine Star

(First of two parts)

A pall of gloom pervades the offices of ACS Manufacturing Corp., makers of Pride detergent, one of the few truly Filipino detergent brands in the country.

A recent duty imposition on a major ingredient in the production of detergents has made producing laundry soap, either in powder or bar form, too expensive. But increasing retail prices or passing on the added cost to consumers is out of the question because this would make imported detergents much cheaper than local ones.

Procter and Gamble Distributing (Phils.) imports in finished form most of the products that it sells in the Philippine market, except for two, one of which is detergents. Like other P&G subsidiaries, the Philippine office had to compete with subsidiaries in other countries in order to produce detergents here.

But whatever cost advantages the Philippines has in detergent manufacturing may soon be gone. P&G may be faced with no other option but to close down its detergent manufacturing plant in the Philippines, a decision that would not only mean a loss of thousands of jobs but also send another bad signal to the foreign investment community considering P&G’s influence in world business.

A Filipino company on one hand and a multinational on the other, which for many years had to compete with each other, together with other detergent manufacturers in the country, now find themselves in a tight fix – how to keep the business afloat when all indications show that it does not make sense to continue with it.