Mitsubishi keen to partner in setting up fertiliser factory in Bhola

Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has expressed interest in establishing a fertiliser factory in Bhola through a joint venture with the government, capitalising on the natural gas reserves found there.

A four-member delegation from the multinational firm, led by Project Manager of the Ghorashal-Polash Urea Fertilizer Project Yuichi Sayama, expressed their willingness to invest in the new project during a meeting with Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun at the secretariat on Sunday.

"We have plans to set up a fertiliser factory in Bhola, similar to the Ghorashal-Polash Urea Fertilizer Factory. The expected annual production capacity of the factory is 5 lakh tonnes," said Nurul Majid after the meeting.

He said some Chinese and Korean companies have already expressed their interest in partnering in the project, but the government prefers to work with Japanese companies.

Responding to journalists, the industries minister said they plan to complete the project within the tenure of the new government.

SM Alam, additional secretary of the industries ministry, said, "It is difficult to transport gas from Bhola, as it is an isolated island district."

Setting up a fertiliser factory will be a way to use the gas and meet domestic demand for fertiliser, he added.

SM Alam said the new fertiliser factory would be a joint venture project, which will be a win-win for both parties.

Talking with TBS, Md Abdul Wahed, private secretary (joint secretary) to the industries minister, said the minister visited Bhola on Thursday along with State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid.

Gas has been found, and land is also available there, he said.

The ministry wants to conduct a formal feasibility study for setting up the fertiliser factory, Wahed added.

At the meeting, the Mitsubishi delegation presented a written report on the latest status of the Ghorashal-Polash Fertilizer Factory to the industry minister. They expressed hope that they would officially hand over the fertiliser factory to the government by the end of February. 

The Japanese firm is a construction partner of Bangladesh's largest fertiliser factory.

He said before the handover of the project that Mitsubishi plans to restart the factory today with 50% capacity. Ten days later, they aim to increase it by another 25%, and at full capacity after another 10 days.

He further said if the factory can run smoothly for the next 10 days, it will not be shut down again unless the gas supply is disrupted.

After the discovery of the Shahbazpur gas field in Borhanuddin, Bhola, in 1993-94, nine wells were subsequently drilled in Bhola Sadar, Borhanuddin upazila, and Ilisha.

As of now, the total gas reserve in the district's three gas fields stands at 2.43 trillion cubic feet, and the authorities have a daily gas extraction capacity of more than 200 million cubic feet from the fields. 

According to BAPEX, the power stations and industrial and residential customers of Bhola currently consume 85 million cubic feet of gas from the fields in the district daily.

A small quantity is supplied as compressed natural gas (CNG) to industries in other regions.

The government also plans to supply gas from Bhola to Khulna via pipeline.

Bangladesh has seven fertiliser factories, five urea factories, a Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) fertiliser factory, and another one is the Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser factory.

The country's annual demand for urea has been estimated at 26 lakh tonnes, and the local factories have the capacity to produce about 20 lakh tonnes

Currently, the local fertiliser factories are unable to use their full capacity due to gas shortages.