After a six-month hiatus, production at Ashuganj Fertiliser Factory resumed yesterday afternoon, albeit with inadequate gas supply.
Sources at the factory said the production came to a halt when the gas supply to the factory was stopped on March 17 following instructions by the Ministry of Industries, in order to provide the excess gas to the power plants during summer.
Omar Khaiyam, managing director (production) at the factory, confirmed it and said the factory started producing urea yesterday after the gas supply was restored. The production took a while to start as there was an accident after the gas supply resumed on September 1, sources at the factory said.
After the gas supply resumed, the super heater in the factory’s boiler unit exploded, delaying the resumption of urea production, the sources said.
Later, with the help of some Chinese experts, the heater was repaired and the urea production started yesterday afternoon. However, low pressure in gas supply is putting production at risk, the sources added. Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, authorities said the factory was unable to produce around 225,000 metric tonnes of urea, worth around Tk300 crore due to the hiatus.
“Because of this interruption, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation may have to revise their urea production target for this year,” they said.