Chattogram Urea Fertiliser Limited (CUFL), a state-owned fertiliser factory located in Rangadia of Anwara upazila has been closed for about five months due to gas shortage. It has hampered the production of urea fertiliser worth about Tk 670.32 crore.
The production stopped due to the shutdown of gas supply on April 11. Currently, CUFL produces an average of 1,200 tonnes of urea fertiliser daily. Although the market price per tonne is Tk 38,000, farmers get it at a subsidiSed price of Tk 25, 000. The daily production price stands at Tk 4.56 crore. In this way, the loss in 147 days stands at more than Tk 679 crore. At the same time, even though the factory is not operational, it has to bear an expense of about Tk 20 crore per month. On the other hand, thousands of workers and employees of the company are spending their days in despair.
The factory established on the south bank of the Karnaphuli River with the assistance of Japan in 1987, had an annual production capacity of 561,000 tonnes of urea and 310,000 tonnes of ammonia. Currently, the production capacity has been greatly reduced due to the gas shortage.
According to CUFL sources, production at the factory has been disrupted for the past two years due to mechanical malfunctions and sometimes gas supply interruptions. The factory was operational for only five days in the 2023-24 fiscal year. After the factory stopped production on February 7 last year, the factory was reopened on October 13. On January 3 this year, production at the factory stopped again due to mechanical malfunctions. After repairs, production at the factory started on February 26. Although uninterrupted production was going on in the factory, the factory was shut down again on April 11 when the gas supply was stopped. This completely gas-dependent factory requires 45 to 46 million cubic feet of gas daily for full production. The factory did not achieve its target in the 2024-25 fiscal year due to the shutdown of production due to the gas shortage.
Bangladesh Chemical Workers Federation Joint Secretary Anwarul Azim Sabuj said that due to the gas shortage, CUFL could not achieve its target for only five days in the fiscal year 2024-25 due to the shutdown of production. Due to this, CUFL workers did not receive the festival bonus. He demanded that the government re-set the target and provide the workers with the festival bonus and start the factory by supplying gas quickly.
CUFL Managing Director Md. Mizanur Rahman said, “There is a risk of damage to the machine due to its long shutdown. The factory can be started if gas is received. CUFL has been closed for about 5 months due to gas shortage. We are trying to get gas supply. However, we are not sure when gas will be available yet.”
Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company GM Engineer Md Shafiul Azam Khan said, “It is not possible to supply gas to CUFL without government instructions.”
