Four urea fertilizer factories under Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) have resumed operations in full swing. The operation of these factories was shut in the middle of this year due to gas crisis. As reported by the company, the factory is producing 3 to 4.5 thousand tons of urea every day. Shaheen Kamal, Director (Production and Research) of BCIC, said that after many days, all our factories were launched together, on Tuesday (December 26), 3,800 tons of fertilizer were produced, compared to 4,500 tons the previous day. Despite the shutdown, this year (fiscal year) 2 lakh 95 thousand tons of fertilizer has been produced.
As cited by the Additional Secretary of Fertilizer Management and Materials Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture Dr. Shah Md. Helal Uddin, the requirement of fertilizer for Boro season is about 7 to 8 lakh tons. For cultivation, the demand for fertilizer is 4 lakh tons in January and 3 lakh tons in February. Currently stocked and two months of fertilizer will last till February. Besides, another 2 lakh tons of fertilizer is being imported from UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, which will reach the country in January.
Also, Jamuna Fertilizer Company Limited, the country’s largest fertilizer producer, is now running at full speed. The production capacity of this factory is 1 thousand 700 tons per day. Besides, regular production is going on in Shahjalal Fertilizer Company Limited, Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Factory Limited and Ashuganj Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited.
As a result, the stakeholders expressed hope that there will not be a crisis of fertilizer in the upcoming Boro season.
It may be noted that, the local factories now produce about 1 million tons of urea annually, while the rest of the demand has to be met through imports. However, experimental production is going on in the Ghorashal-Palash Fertilizer Factory, which was inaugurated on November 12. The annual production capacity of urea in this factory is about 9 lakh tons. If it comes into full production, the import of fertilizers will further decrease in the future.
According to sources, it has been decided to import 9 lakh tons of urea fertilizer under the JTUG contract in the financial year 2023-24. 300,000 tons of fertilizer will be imported from Saudi Arabia, 300,000 tons from Qatar and 270,000 tons from the United Arab Emirates. As the price increases in the world market, the price of urea per kg at farmer level is Tk 27 instead of Tk 22, DAP is Tk 21 instead of Tk 16, TSP is Tk 27 instead of Tk 22 and MOP is to be bought at Tk 20 instead of Tk 15.