Indonesia emerged as the second-largest exporter of soap products to Egypt in 2023, with exports valued at 4.53 million USD (approximately IDR 71.74 billion), according to the Indonesian Ambassador to Egypt, Lutfi Rauf. During a meeting at the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo with representatives from the Egyptian industry in Sadat City on Thursday (28/3), Lutfi stated that Indonesia captured 16.54% of the soap market share in Egypt. "This certainly provides an opportunity to boost Indonesian soap exports to the Egyptian market segment," he said, as quoted in a statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo on Sunday.

The value of Indonesian soap exports to Egypt in 2023 increased nearly 20 times compared to the export value in 2022, which totaled only 238,000 USD (approximately IDR 3.77 billion). Trade Attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo, M. Syahran Bhakti, mentioned that Egyptian consumers favor Indonesian soap made from vegetable oil, despite high import duties on Indonesian soap in Egypt, ranging from 40-60%. With a 16.54% market share of soap in Egypt, Indonesia surpassed Germany, Turkey, and Tunisia, but still lagged behind Malaysia, which exported soap worth 21.57 million USD (approximately IDR 341.58 billion) in 2023 with a market share of 79.5%.Meanwhile, Mohammed Khallaf, the CEO of the private Egyptian importing company, United Egypt Company, stated that they have been importing Indonesian soap products for the past 10 years. Every year, they import around 3,000-4,000 tons of vegetable oil-based soap raw materials from Indonesia for solid toilet soap production in Egypt.United Egypt is currently targeting the lower-middle market segment as their cash turnover is very high and more sensitive to price changes, he added.
 
Source: https://www.antaranews.com/berita/4036803/dubes-ri-sebut-indonesia-pengekspor-sabun-terbesar-kedua-ke-mesir