6,000 workers face uncertainty as S Alam shuts 11 factories

Highlights:

• Company cites raw material shortages, financial constraints
• Employees to receive dues and gratuity by 6 August
• Power plant continues operating despite wider shutdown

For 17 years, Abdus Salam's life followed the same routine. Every morning, he walked through the gates of S Alam Refined Sugar Industries in Chattogram's Karnaphuli, where the constant hum of machines meant work, income and certainty. 

Today (31 July), the factory stands silent. The gates are locked, the chimneys no longer smoke, and Salam is among nearly 6,000 workers and employees who have lost their jobs after S Alam Group shut down at least 11 factories on Thursday.

"I never thought I would see the factory like this," Salam told The Business Standard, struggling to hold back tears as he stood outside his former workplace today. "We knew the company was going through a difficult time, but I never imagined everything would come to an end."

The closure has plunged thousands of families across Karnaphuli into uncertainty, ending decades of employment for many workers who spent most of their working lives in the group's factories.

Over the past two decades, S Alam Group built one of the largest industrial clusters on the southern bank of the Karnaphuli River investing billions, employing between 6,000 and 7,000 people in sugar, cement, steel, edible oil, feed, bag manufacturing and other industries. Today, almost all of those factories are closed.

A visit to the industrial area today painted a stark picture. Gates were locked, production floors were deserted and the once-busy roads around the factories were unusually quiet. Many workers gathered outside, uncertain about where they would find their next job.

For some, finding another employer will not be easy.

"I have crossed the age when companies want to hire new workers," Salam said. "How will I feed my family now?"

The shutdown follows nearly two years of financial distress after restrictions were imposed on the group's bank accounts and assets following the political changeover in August 2024. Workers said the company gradually ran out of imported raw materials as it could no longer open fresh letters of credit.

Engineer Hashmat Ali, a shift in-charge at S Alam Refined Sugar Industries who has worked with the company for 27 years, said production continued for months using whatever materials remained in warehouses.

"We kept the factories running as long as we could," he said. "When the stock of raw materials was exhausted, production had no choice but to stop."

Despite the shutdown of production, he said, the company continued paying wages for more than a year.

"The company has been paying workers even though many factories were idle. But it cannot continue paying salaries without production," Hashmat said, adding that the group's monthly wage bill was around Tk30 crore.

According to him, workers have now been assured that all outstanding salaries and legal dues will be paid by 6 August.

For workers, however, receiving their dues is only part of the story.

Many say what they need most is another chance to work.

The government has recently announced efforts to revive several closed industrial units across the country. Workers in Karnaphuli hope S Alam's factories will be included in that initiative.

"If the government creates an opportunity to import raw materials again, these factories can restart quickly," Hashmat said. "We don't want compensation alone. We want our jobs back."

The closure is expected to ripple beyond the factory walls. Thousands of households have lost their primary source of income, while local businesses, transport operators and small shops that depended on the industrial workforce also face an uncertain future.

Akram Hossain, a local resident, said the rapid growth of the Karnaphuli industrial belt had transformed the area's economy, with hundreds of shops opening and thousands of rental buildings constructed to serve the large workforce employed by S Alam Group.

"Most of those rental houses will now remain vacant, while many small businesses that depended on factory workers are struggling to survive. The closure of these factories has dealt a severe blow to what was once a vibrant local economy," he told TBS.

He urged the government to take steps to revive the factories.

"If the factories can be reopened, thousands of people will get their jobs back and the local economy will begin to recover," he said.

Officials of S Alam Group could not immediately be reached for comment.

Earlier, Mahbub Hasan, deputy inspector general of the Chattogram Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, told TBS that the company had verbally informed the department that it would not be able to continue operations, although no formal closure notice had yet been submitted.

S Alam Group, once one of Bangladesh's largest conglomerates with interests in banking, power, cement, sugar, edible oil, steel and shipping, has been embroiled in controversy since the fall of Awami League regime in August 2024.

Its founder and chairman, Saiful Alam, came under scrutiny over allegations of acquiring control of several banks through proxy shareholders and preferential access to loans.

After the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, authorities froze the group's bank accounts and assets and launched multiple investigations into alleged financial irregularities.