Govt to import 1.8lakh tonnes of fertiliser

Staff Reporter :
The government will import 1.8 lakh tonnes of fertiliser from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Canada with a view to meet the farmer’s demand in the country.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) has approved a number of proposals including the import of fertilizer at the CCGP’s 34th meeting on Wednesday virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.
The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) will buy the fertilisers in three separate lots from two different companies under separate contracts.
Additional Secretary to the Cabinet Division Syed Mahbub Khan briefed journalists regarding the approved proposals after the meeting.
As per the proposals, some 60,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea fertiliser will be procured from the SABIC Agri-nutrients Company of Saudi Arabia at a cost of Tk378.56 crore
Besides, BCIC will import 30,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Fertiglobe Distribution Ltd, UAE at a cost of Tk189.28 crore, while it will also import 30,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid at Tk215.14 crore for its DAP Fertiliser Company Limited, UAE.
The additional secretary said at the procurement committee meeting, two proposals were raised for the purchase of MOP and DAP fertilisers from the Ministry of Agriculture, and both proposals were approved.
BCIC has approved the purchase of 50,000 tonnes of muriate of potassium (MOP) fertiliser from Canada. The price of fertiliser per tonne will be $788. However, the previous price of this chemical manure was $ 821. Here, the total cost will be Tk 416.53 crore.
BCIC has also approved the purchase of 40,000 tonnes of Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The price of fertiliser per tonne will be $725.25 which was $826.50 earlier. The total cost here aggregates Tk 308.78 crore.
Earlier on October 12, the CCGP has given approval to procure one lakh tonnes of fertilizer including 60,000 metric tonnes of bulk granular urea fertilizer and 40,000 metric tonnes of DAP fertilizer.
Two separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) were approved to procure some 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea fertilizer under the 1st lot from Fertiglobe Distribution Limited, UAE with around Taka 204.73 crore with per tonne fertilizer costing $632.
This time the government is purchasing per ton urea fertilizer at $46 less than its previous purchase.
Besides, BCIC’s another consignment to procure of 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea fertilizer from Muntajat, Qatar under the 8th lot under state-level agreement with around Tk204.73 crore where per ton fertilizer would cost $632. In this lot, the BCIC would enjoy a less of $46 in purchase of per ton fertilizer compared to the previous procurement.
Apart from this, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) under the Ministry of Agriculture would procure some 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertilizer under the 8th lot upon the state-level agreement from MA’ADEN, Saudi Arabia at around Tk309.78 crore with per ton fertilize costing $726.50.