Urea production at the Jamuna Fertiliser Company Limited (JFCL), situated in Tarakandi under Jamalpur district, ground to a complete halt on Sunday following a total suspension of natural gas supplies. The shutdown comes barely forty-eight hours after the industrial facility resumed operations on 23 October following a fortnight-long suspension required to repair critical boiler faults.
Delwar Hossain, acting general manager of the plant, confirmed that urea manufacturing was suspended on Sunday morning after fuel feeds were cut off. Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company informed factory management that natural gas supplies are unlikely to be restored until December, threatening a prolonged operational freeze at one of the country’s key agricultural processing facilities.
Established in 1991 in Tarakandi, the Jamuna Fertiliser Factory initially boasted a daily production capacity of 1,700 metric tonnes of urea. Over time, persistent declines in pipeline gas pressure forced management to scale down the daily target to 1,300 metric tonnes. The facility has faced repeated operational disruptions due to acute energy shortages. In June of last year, severe gas deficits forced a total shutdown on 21 June. Production only resumed nearly six months later, on 18 December, once gas feeds were partially restored.
Technical mishaps have compounded the facility’s supply-side vulnerabilities. In January of this year, a technical delegation led by an Indian expert, Tanaji S. Pandekar, visited the site to inspect the ammonia plant’s natural gas booster compressor. During the inspection, an accidental button press triggered an immediate shutdown of the ammonia plant accompanied by a loud blast, bringing both ammonia and urea output to a sudden standstill. Although engineering teams managed to restore operations after several days of intensive repairs, a reformer tube leakage discovered on Sunday evening forced authorities to order another shutdown.
The prolonged suspension of operations at JFCL poses serious implications for domestic agricultural supply chains. The plant serves as the primary supplier of nitrogenous fertiliser for farmers across nineteen districts in northern Bangladesh, including Jamalpur, Sherpur, and Tangail. Extended disruptions risk creating severe urea shortages during peak cultivation cycles, forcing the national government to rely on expensive foreign imports to meet domestic demand. Increased import reliance places additional strain on public expenditure and foreign exchange reserves at a critical juncture for the regional agricultural economy.
