A deepening natural gas deficit across Bangladesh’s key industrial belts—including Narsingdi, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Savar-Ashulia, and Mymensingh (Valuka)—has brought manufacturing to a near-standstill.
Caused by technical breakdowns and cargo shortfalls at Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRUs), national gas supply dropped to as low as 1.73–2.18 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) against a baseline demand of 3.80 bcfd, severely disrupting primary textile supply chains.
With gas pressure fluctuating between 0 and 2.5 PSI (far below the 10+ PSI needed for heavy industrial boilers), dyeing, sizing, spinning, and ceramic plants are operating at 10% to 30% of installed capacity.
The outage threatens the broader Readymade Garment (RMG) sector through severe supply-chain bottlenecks, forced worker furloughs, air-freight penalties, and order cancellations.
Total national gas delivery fell to ~2.18 bcfd against a daily national demand of 3.80 bcfd, forced down by technical outages and LNG cargo delays at offshore regasification terminals.
In Narsingdi, over 400 gas-dependent textile and dyeing mills report output drops of 70% to 90%; in Ashulia and Narayanganj, 152+ dyeing and finishing units face acute risk of permanent closure.
Primary textile processes—knitting, spinning, sizing, and heat-setting—are failing, leaving export-oriented garment factories without raw fabric inputs.
Enterprises attempting to run steam boilers using wood-burning or spot-market gas cylinders are incurring additional operating costs of Tk10,000 to Tk30,000 per hour.
Thousands of factory workers face idle shifts, forced leave, or partial pay cuts as factory owners struggle under fixed overheads, unserviced bank loans, and zero revenue.
Industrial Zone | Total Units Impacted | Primary Sector Exposure | Capacity Utilization Drop | Primary Operational & Financial Impact |
Narsingdi | 400+ Direct / 3,000+ Indirect | Sizing, Dyeing, Weaving, Fabrics | Down by 70% – 90% | Losses of hundreds of crores daily; wood-burning alternatives add severe cost inflation |
Savar–Ashulia | 100+ Large Mills | Spinning, Knit Dyeing, Garments | Down by 75% | Factory shutdowns; $1M+/day losses per unit; forced air-freight shipping costs |
Narayanganj | 152+ Dyeing Units | Knit Dyeing, Finishing, Printing | Near Total Standstill | Sub-1.5 PSI pressure stalls machinery; 152 factories face insolvency and closure |
Gazipur (Sreepur/Maona) | 80+ Industrial Plants | Ceramic, Technical Textiles, RMG | Down to 20% – 25% | Kilns unable to maintain baking temperatures; export order cancellations |
"The gas crisis is no longer a temporary operational headache—it has evolved into an existential threat for our industrial base," emphasized Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).
"Dyeing, knitting, and finishing mills are running at less than half capacity or shutting down entirely. Even when factories are idle, debt service, utility demand charges, and worker wages remain fixed costs. If supply unpredictability continues, owners will lose the capacity to retain workers, leading to massive employment cuts."
"Because dyeing and processing require continuous high-pressure steam, intermittent gas supply destroys raw materials mid-cycle while inflating costs," explained Mohiuddin Rubel, founder and CEO of Bangladesh Apparel Voice (BAV) and former director of BGMEA.
"When primary textiles fail, the entire RMG export pipeline breaks down. Unmet delivery deadlines force factories into expensive air-freight shipments or heavy buyer discounts. If international brands lose confidence in Bangladesh's delivery reliability, orders will permanently shift to regional competitors."
Strategic recommendations
To protect industrial employment, prevent corporate defaults, and secure export shipments, trade bodies advocate four urgent policy actions:
- Issuing clear, pre-announced gas supply schedules so factories can plan production shifts rather than risking raw material losses from sudden pressure drops.
- Prioritizing high-value-added textile, dyeing, and spinning zones over non-exporting or seasonal gas consumers during peak production cycles.
- Streamlining emergency LNG spot-market purchases and accelerating technical repairs on offshore regasification infrastructure.
- Coordinating with Bangladesh Bank and port authorities to provide temporary loan rescheduling and duty relief for gas-affected export industries.
Uninterrupted energy is the foundational input for Bangladesh's export manufacturing.
Unless predictable gas supply is restored to primary textile and industrial hubs, temporary factory shutdowns risk turning into permanent bankruptcies, widespread job losses, and a long-term erosion of Bangladesh's market share in global trade.