Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), Bangladesh’s sole state-run facility for processing crude oil into various petroleum products, set a record by surpassing its installed production capacity in fiscal year 2024-25.
Bangladesh’s energy sector may come under significant threat if the Iran-Israel war escalates and Iran follows through on its threat to block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime trade route through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply is shipped every day.
Bangladesh may face disruptions to its fuel imports if the conflict between Iran and Israel escalates further, according to industry experts and officials.
Iran may shut down the route through which Bangladesh’s fuel supplying nations move ships
Although the National Board of Revenue (NBR) resumed regular operations yesterday after nearly two weeks of protests and work abstentions, ship and container congestion has once again gripped the Chattogram Port, triggering concern among businesses over potential delays in cargo handling and increased logistics costs.
At least 52 garment factories, both small and large, have closed in the past six months in Chattogram thanks to a 25 percent drop in work orders amid political instability, according to Industrial Police sources.
For the past two weeks, residents of Chattogram have been grappling with an acute crisis of drinkable water as rising salinity levels in the supply have made it virtually undrinkable.
Unplanned industrialisation in Sitakunda without proper safety measures has made local people live in constant fear especially after the BM container depot disaster.
Right after the news of the deadly explosion at Sitakunda BM Depot broke, around 200 students of Chattogram University head out in two buses, in the middle of the night.
Even though pets are taken care of with much affection, the same can’t be said about animals on the street. These strays often suffer from different illnesses, but there’s no one to tend to them.
Tyre importers in Bangladesh have been hit hard by the rise in the exchange rate and the doubling of the cash businesses require to pay in advance to open letters of credit to bring in the item.
Local exporters are apprehending losing annual business worth $200 crore for a recent commerce ministry gazette barring rice bran oil export, for which a large number of letters of credit (LC) opened by foreign buyers have been blocked.
The installation of a fuel pipeline from Chattogram to Dhaka is progressing at a brisk pace as about half of the work is already complete while the rest is expected to be complete by December, according to project officials.
After a long wait, the experimental farming of vannamei is set to begin in the Chattogram region that could pave the way for the commercial production of a shrimp variety that rules the roost in the global market.
With Eid approaching, the spice market has stocked up on consumer goods. However, even though the wholesale market is somewhat stable in terms of the price of spices, retailers are selling the products to consumers at a higher margin.
With Eid approaching, the artisans of the port city’s Bihari Palli, who specialise in zardozi and karchupi work (intricate designs done by hand with beads and metal thread embroidery) are working day and night to straighten out their orders at different boutiques of the region.
The runaway fuel oil and gas price in the international markets has already hit Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves and intensified pressures on the exchange rate amid the escalation of imports at higher prices.
