Enough urea in stock, no possibility of shortage: BCIC chairman

Bangladesh has 7.37 lakh tonnes of fertiliser in stock right now and the country will face no shortage of it in the coming months, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation Chairman Shah Md Imdadul Haque today.

He spoke at a press conference at the BCIC Bhaban in Dhaka.

"The energy division has informed us that the gas situation will be eased by November," he said, adding that right now two factories out of four are producing urea fertilisers.

One factory is not in operation while another one will start production within a week, said Haque.

Bangladesh will need around 26 lakh tonnes of urea 2022-23, he said.

A total of 2.31 lakh tonnes of fertiliser were produced as of October 15, down from 2.68 lakh tonnes in the same period last year, according to the BCIC data.

On October 15, the BCIC had 4.58 lakh tonnes of urea in stock and another 2.79 lakh tonnes were in transit.

In addition to that the government is importing another 4.8 lakh tonnes of fertiliser under the government to government arrangement, the BCIC chairman said.

He said the 1,828 tonnes of fertiliser, which got hardened at Dinajpur Bugger Warehouse, will be distributed among dealers after they are repackaged.

Five teams of the BCIC check fertilisers at different stages of their import, he said, brushing aside the allegation of importing expired and unusable fertilisers.

Meanwhile, the BCIC today suspended deputy manager and in-charge of Gaibandha Buffer Godown, Nazrul Islam, for giving 'misleading' information to the media and failing to look after fertiliser.

A probe committee will be formed to investigate the matter, said Haque, adding that sometimes contractors get involved in fertiliser counterfeiting.

Earlier, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said there would be no fertiliser crisis in the country before the next boro season despite the closure of two plants amid gas shortage.