Chittagong: Production has been resumed at Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd (CUFL) in the early hours of Saturday after a 23-day suspension. Production at CUFL had been halted due to mechanical faults that have plagued the plant for years.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Mizanur Rahman, the Managing Director of CUFL, stated that production was initially suspended on January 3 due to a mechanical glitch. The plant, which is one of the largest state-owned fertilizer producers in the country, is located on the southeast bank of the Karnaphuli River in Anowara upazila. It has faced frequent operational troubles, resulting in a significant drop in production due to repeated mechanical issues and inadequate gas supply.
CUFL sources revealed that production was active for only five days in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Production had previously been halted on February 7 of the previous year and only resumed on October 13 after a 10-month suspension. The factory’s daily urea production has been reduced from its capacity of 1,700 metric tonnes to 1,200 metric tonnes. Despite an annual declared production capacity of around 5.61 lakh metric tonnes, CUFL produced only 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of urea during the last fiscal year.
The country needs to import 16 lakh metric tonnes of urea annually to meet the total demand of 26 lakh metric tonnes, as the factories under the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), including CUFL, can produce only around 10 lakh metric tonnes of urea. CUFL sources indicated that the shortage of gas supply, along with persistent mechanical faults, are the primary reasons for the significant decline in production in this key industrial sector.