CUFL resumes urea production after 7 month gas supply disruption

After a seven-month shutdown, state-owned Chattogram Urea Fertiliser Limited (CUFL) in Anwara, Chattogram, has resumed urea production following the stabilisation of gas supply.

CUFL Managing Director Mizanur Rahman said production restarted at around 3:30am yesterday (1 November) after the completion of necessary mechanical preparations.

Gas supply to the plant had been suspended on 11 April by the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL), forcing the factory to halt operations. The suspension disrupted daily urea output worth around Tk3 crore, dealing a significant blow to the country's agricultural supply chain.

Gas flow was restored on 19 October, and after safety checks and testing, the factory resumed production early yesterday.

"The factory began receiving gas on 19 October, and full-scale urea production has now resumed," said CUFL Managing Director Mizanur Rahman. 

"If the gas supply remains stable and no mechanical problems occur, production will continue uninterrupted."

The CUFL plant requires 48-52 million cubic feet of gas daily to operate at full capacity. However, due to gas shortages and mechanical problems, it produced only 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of urea in the last fiscal year.

Bangladesh's annual demand for urea stands at around 2.6 million tonnes. Of this, CUFL and other factories under the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) supply roughly 1 million tonnes, while the remaining 1.6 million tonnes are imported at higher prices.

Established on 29 October 1987 on the southern bank of the Karnaphuli River, CUFL was originally designed to produce 1,700 tonnes of urea per day, or 561,000 tonnes annually, with Japanese technical assistance. It currently produces about 1,200 tonnes of urea and 310,000 tonnes of ammonia each year.