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Gas Crisis

Jamuna urea factory produces 500 MT less daily

Short supply feared in 20 districts during peak Irri-Boro season

MIRZA S11AKIL, back from Jamalpur
The Jamuna fertiliser factory incurs a production loss of about 500 tones of urea a day due to less supply of gas, sources in the factory said.
As a result, urea supply to 20 districts including 16 northern districts and four districts in greater Mymensingh under the factory's command area may face short supply during the peak Irri-Boro season.
Jamuna fertilizer, the largest urea producing factory in the country, produced a record 5,20.000 MT urea in the last financial year (2007-2008) against its normal capacity of5,00,000 MT.
But it can not maintain the production due to low gas supply for the last 11 months, the sources said.
Its installed production
capacity is 1,700 MT a day, which is comes to about 5.60,000 MT a year.
The factory sources said 46.0 MSCFD of natural gas is required as raw materials per day but the supply has been reduced to below 30 MSCFD.
They said 370 PSIG gas pressure is required to produce 1,700 MT urea a day. Now, it cannot produce more than 1,200 MT with a gas pressure of 260 PSIG at present, they said.
As a result, the factory would not be able to meet the production target of 5,00,000 MT in the current financial year.
Jahirul Hasan, general manager (production) of Jamuna Fertiliser Company Ltd (JFCL), told The Daily Star yesterday that the gas problem started affecting production since February last year
and it turned acute in the last week of July.
If this situation continues production will be about 1,50,000 MT less this financial year, which will require import of urea worth about Tk 1,000 crore, he said.
Six fertiliser companies in the country including JFCL can produce around 20 lakh MT urea annually against a total demand for 28 lakh tonnes.
The Jamuna fertilizer factory also faced closure for times in last few months for technical glitches and leakage in its costly and sensitive equipment and machinery due to fluctuation in gas pressure, the sources said.
The factory at Tarakandi in Sarishabari upazila in Jamalpur district supplies urea in 20 districts through its 1,823 dealers since its estab-
lishment in 1991.
The demand of urea in the 20 districts under JFCL command area is 1,80,000 tonnes during the peak Irri-Boro season beginning from January. The factory has now a stock of only 34,000 bags (per bag 300kg), the sources said.
Admitting production loss, JFCL Managing Director Mohammad Shajahan said he sent several letters one to Titas Gas authorities to resolve the gas supply problem, but to no result.
Sources in Titas Gas Company, when contacted, said they cannot supplying gas to JFCL as per its need due to low production in the field.
The problem cannot be resolved until new gas wells are dug, they added.