Gas crisis shuts Jamuna fertiliser plant
Production at Jamuna Fertiliser Factory in Sarishabari upazila of Jamalpur stopped again on Sunday morning because of a shortage of gas, just two days after the plant resumed operations.
Production was suspended at 5:00am, Mohammad Fazlul Haque, head of the factory’s production department, confirmed on Sunday.
He said the factory could not continue producing urea fertiliser because it was not receiving enough gas.
The factory needs a gas pressure of 42 to 43 pounds per square inch (PSI) to maintain production.
Operations will resume when gas supply becomes sufficient, according to the official. Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited supplies gas to the factory.
The latest shutdown followed several months of disruption caused by gas shortages and technical problems. The factory had remained closed for about seven months before gas supply was restored on September 20.
However, production could not restart immediately because the gas pressure was too low. Production began in early October after the pressure improved, but a mechanical fault in the boiler plant forced another shutdown.
After repairs, the factory resumed production at 10:00am on October 23. The latest gas shortage forced it to stop production again on Sunday, October 25.During its brief return to operation, the factory produced a total of 1,600 tonnes of fertiliser over two days, according to published reports.
The factory has a designed production capacity of 1,700 tonnes of urea fertiliser a day. It supplies fertiliser to 21 districts, including Jamalpur, Sherpur, Mymensingh and Tangail, as well as other districts in northern Bangladesh.
The fertiliser is distributed through 1,900 dealers registered with the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC).
Factory sources said the plant could produce fertiliser worth around Tk 200 crore a month when gas supply remained normal.
Monthly profit under those conditions was estimated at around Tk 60 crore. Even when production remains suspended, the factory has to pay around Tk 6 crore a month in gas bills to keep the plant operational, according to published reports.
The repeated shutdowns have disrupted production at a factory that supplies fertiliser to farmers across a large area of the country. Factory sources have warned that a prolonged suspension could lead to fertiliser shortages for farmers and affect agricultural production.
However, no confirmed information is available to establish that the latest shutdown has already caused shortages in local markets or damaged crops.
The factory’s production department said operations could resume once an adequate gas supply became available.
