Gas shortage halts production at 2 Ctg fertiliser plants

Business Report :

Production at two major fertiliser factories in Anwara, Chattogram – Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited (CUFL) and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Limited (KAFCO) – has been temporarily suspended following a government directive to halt gas supply amid the ongoing energy shortage.

The shutdown began around 3:00 pm Wednesday following a government directive.

CUFL’s General Manager (Engineering Services Division), Engineer Syed Abu Naser Md Saleh, on Thursday confirmed to the media that gas supply to the two plants had been halted.

“Around 70-80 million cubic feet of gas used to be supplied to the two plants,” he said, adding that no information had been received about disruptions in LNG imports.

“Production can resume once gas supply is restored,” said Uttam Chowdhury, CUFL’s chief chemist, noting that the plant had remained closed for six consecutive months last year due to gas shortages.

CUFL, established in 1987 with Japanese assistance, has a daily capacity of 1,100 tonnes of urea and 800 tonnes of ammonia, requiring 48-52 million cubic feet of gas per day to run at full capacity.

However, frequent shortages and mechanical problems have limited operations, with the plant producing around 250,000 tonnes of urea last fiscal year and remaining active for about two and a half months last year.

Kafco, founded in 1991 in Chattogram’s Anwara, as a joint venture between Bangladesh and foreign investors, is one of the country’s largest producers, with a daily capacity of 1,725 tonnes of urea and 1,500 tonnes of ammonia.

Bangladesh requires about 2.6 million tonnes of urea annually.

Factories under the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), including CUFL, produce around one million tonnes, while the remaining 1.6 million tonnes have to be imported at higher costs.