New deal signed with Riyadh to import 4 lakh tonnes fertilisers

The government has signed a new two-year deal with Saudi Arabia to import 400,000 tonnes of fertiliser, aiming to boost food production, meet the growing needs of consumers, and ensure food security.

Rapid urbanisation and a growing population have led to a shrinking food production capacity for the South Asian country, which is one of the most densely populated in the world, the Arab News reported.

However, government officials in Bangladesh are working around the clock to mitigate the crisis.

The deal was signed between the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and Saudi state-owned company Ma'aden in Riyadh on 15 December. The two have been long-time partners.

"Good quality fertiliser plays a vital role in ensuring food security for our 175 million people. This fertiliser helps us increase productivity manyfold," BADC General Manager Ahmed Hassan Al-Mahmud told Arab News.

Under the latest deal, Ma'aden will supply 400,000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate fertiliser every year until 2026 and provide training for Bangladeshi farmers.

"The Saudi state-owned fertiliser company offered to provide training for our farmers for the purpose of knowledge transfer on optimising the use of the DAP fertilisers," Al-Mahmud said, adding that Ma'aden has also offered to build fertiliser warehouses in Bangladesh.

The Saudi imports will contribute about one-third of Bangladesh's annual DAP fertiliser needs, which stand at about 1.3 million tonnes, he added.

Bangladesh also stands to benefit more from the latest agreement, as the fertilisers cost $2 less per tonne compared to the average market price.

"It will save us a significant amount of money," Al-Mahmud said. "Saudi Arabia has been our trusted supplier for a long time, and we can purchase it at a reasonable rate compared with other sources."

While the South Asian nation also imports from China and Morocco, Al-Mahmud said the Kingdom was a "dependable and reliable source."

He added, "We have been importing fertiliser from the Kingdom for more than 15 years. It takes only around two weeks to import fertiliser from the Kingdom, while from Morocco it takes more than six weeks. From that perspective also, Saudi Arabia is our preferred country for importing fertiliser."