The country is now planning to establish a fertilizer factory in Saudi Arabia (KSA) through single or joint-venture investment amid dwindling domestic gas supply.
The fertilizer to be produced there will be imported to Bangladesh under a buy-back arrangement, according to officials concerned.
To take forward the initiative, PM's private-sector industry and investment adviser Salman F Rahman will lead a delegation to the KSA soon.
Officials said the adviser in a recent letter to the foreign secretary requested him to arrange a visit of the delegation to the kingdom.
The team may include representatives from the PMO, industries and commerce ministries, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority.
The delegation will also discuss KSA's investment pledges to Bangladesh and fresh investment prospects, wrote Rahman.
In June 2021, according to the letter, Rahman sat with Saudi investment Minister Khalid A Al-Falih who said the setting up of a fertilizer factory in Saudi Arabia through Bangladeshi investment could be discussed.
The KSA is ready to supply gas to the factory and send back the chemical fertilizer to Bangladesh under a buy-back arrangement.
Following the meeting, Rahman apprised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the development.
The PM asked him to take an initiative to materialize the plan.
Apart from using the locally produced fertilizer, Bangladesh imports a large volume of fertilizers from abroad annually to meet domestic needs, he wrote.
To continue and raise agricultural production, continuation of urea fertilizer supply at affordable price is necessary, noted the adviser.
For deficient gas supply, at least three fertilizer factories have lain idle for months.
On Sunday, the state-backed Petrobangla supplied only 164 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) of gas to fertilizer production against the demand for 316 MMCFD.
Bangladesh suspended spot-market LNG import in July amid liquefied natural gas (LNG) price hike globally, followed by dollar's appreciation and a fall in foreign-currency reserves, causing a gas supply crunch.
It has lowered gas supply to fertilizer factories, thus lowering production and enhancing import dependence further, the officials said.
