Govt clears import of 2.37 lakh tonnes of fertiliser

Also approves purchase of nine LNG cargoes

The government on Tuesday approved the purchase of nine liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes and 237,000 tonnes of fertiliser from the international market.

Singapore-headquartered commodities and logistics multinational Trafigura Pte will supply the LNG cargoes between December 2026 and December 2027, following approval from the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP).

The price of each cargo will be 10 cents per million British thermal units (MMBtu) below the Japan Korea Marker (JKM), the benchmark spot price for LNG delivered to Northeast Asia.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Division submitted the proposal, recommending Trafigura as the supplier. The deal will be on a government-to-government basis, allowing the number of cargoes to be increased or reduced with mutual consent.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had earlier approved the direct purchase of LNG.

Fertiliser imports approved

The CCGP also approved the import of 237,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Canada through the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation and the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, at a cost exceeding Tk 1,000 crore.

Of the total, 82,000 tonnes will be urea, 40,000 tonnes will be diammonium phosphate (DAP), and the remaining 115,000 tonnes will be muriate of potash (MoP).

The purchases include 40,000 tonnes of granular urea from Saudi Arabia’s SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company at $446.67 per tonne and 42,000 tonnes from the UAE’s Fertiglobe Distributions Limited at $531.67 per tonne.

The committee also approved 35,000 tonnes of MoP from Russia’s JSC Foreign Economic Corporation (Prodintorg) at $383.80 per tonne and another 40,000 tonnes from the Canadian Commercial Corporation at $382.38 per tonne.

Another 40,000 tonnes of DAP will be imported from Saudi Arabia’s MA’ADEN at $861.50 per tonne.

Airport expansion project costs rise

The CCGP also approved two contract variations totalling over Tk 765 crore under the ongoing Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Expansion Project (1st Phase, 3rd Revised).

For the main construction contract, the committee approved an additional Tk 360.65 crore, raising its value by 1.75 percent, from Tk 20,598.64 crore to Tk 20,959.30 crore.

The contractor, Aviation Dhaka Consortium (ADC), is a joint venture of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation and Fujita Corporation and South Korea’s Samsung C&T.

The committee also approved an additional Tk 405 crore for consultancy services, raising the contract value by 52.48 percent, from Tk 771.72 crore to Tk 1,176.72 crore.

The consultancy contract is with NOCD JV, a joint venture of Japan’s Nippon Koei Co Ltd and Oriental Consultants Global Co Ltd, Singapore’s CPG Consultants Pte Ltd, and Bangladesh’s Development Design Consultants Ltd.

The committee also approved a proposal from the commerce ministry to purchase 10,000 tonnes of sugar from Meghna Sugar Refinery Ltd in two lots for over Tk 100 crore.