Govt approves LNG and fertiliser import proposals

The Advisors' Council Committee on Government Purchase (ACCGP) has approved several key proposals for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fertiliser to meet domestic demands.

In a meeting held today, chaired virtually by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, who is currently on a visit to the USA, the committee gave the go-ahead to the proposals.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Division submitted two proposals on behalf of state-owned Petrobangla for the procurement of two LNG cargoes from the international spot market under the Public Procurement Rules 2008.

TotalEnergies Gas and Power Ltd, Switzerland, will supply one LNG cargo containing 33.66 lakh MMBtu at a cost of Tk 657.61 crore, with each MMBtu priced at $13.94. The same company will provide a second cargo of the same volume, costing Tk 640.15 crore, with each MMBtu priced slightly lower at $13.57.

In addition, the ACCGP approved a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture to import 30,000 metric tonnes of MOP fertiliser from Russia.

The state-owned Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) will handle the import from Russia's JSC Foreign Economic Corporation Prodintorg, with the total cost amounting to Tk 104.31 crore, at $289.75 per tonne.