Economics of alternative technologies of industrial processing of soybean into oil and feedcake in Nigeria

The research project, conducted rn 1991, examrnes the
econom1cs of industrial processing of soybean into oil and feedcake
under alternative processing technologies namely Screw press, Hard
press and Solvent extraction methods. Three (3) soybean processing
mills of different scales of operation and oil extraction methods were
covered in the study. These are Oja Farms Limited (Vegetable oil
mill), Kofa Vegetable Oil Mills Ltd (Hard press) and Taraku Mills Ltd
(Solvent extraction). Data on economic aspects of the different
process1ng methods were collected through structured and
unstructured questionnaires administered by the researcher in a
number of visits to the Oil Mills. The data were collated and
analysed usrng a variety of analytical techniques namely Marginal
Analysis, Profit and Loss Account, Correlation Coefficients, Analysis
of Variance (ANOVA), Coefficient of Variation (C.V), Hellwing's
Variable Classification Technique, Projections, Graphical and Tabular
analy~es.
The data and analyses reveal that capacity utilisation levels
across the three mills are · very low ranging from 15% in Screw press,
16.1 % in Hard press and 29.2% for Solvent Mill. Oil extraction
efficiencies also differ among the mills from 31 % in Screw press, 67%
.
for Hard press and 94.4% for Solvent Mill. The three (3) mills are
profitable in the processing of soybean into oil and feedcake based
on 1989/90 figures at the gross margins of N434.6, N651.60 and
N610.03 per tonne of soybean for Screw press, Hard press and
Solvent mill respectively. Gross sales per tonne of soybean for Screw