A disagreement over the pricing of fertilizer has put the traders and the government at odds.
People in the farm sector fear if the issue is not resolved soon enough, farmers would take the brunt of a possible distribution disruption during the peak Aman season.
Bangladesh Fertilizer Association (BFA) has threatened to go on strike after next Saturday if the government does not resolve the pricing issue by then.
BFA, which commands over 5,000 chemical fertilizer dealers in the country, has long been demanding removal of the price disparity in urea delivered from mill gates and buffer godowns.
“The dealers have to procure urea from the government’s buffers at a higher price than they usually pay at the mill gate,” BFA Chairman Kamrul Ashraf Khan told The Daily Star.
Industry sources said the disparity between the factory price and the buffer price continues to exist, even after the recent cut in urea price by the government.
Against Tk 700 factory price of urea (per 50 kg sack), the buffer price is Tk 735, according to Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), the state-run body that operates the six urea manufacturing factories in the country.
Through a press conference on September 21, the BFA plans to go for tough programmes including indefinite strikes if the government fails to keep its “commitment” to reducing the buffer price of urea.
BFA Chairman Kamrul Ashraf Khan told The Daily Star that while attending the annual general meeting of the association back in April this year, Industries Minister Dilip Barua and State Minister for Industries Omar Faruq Chowdhury had promised to remove the price disparity.
Since then, said Khan, “We have reminded the government on several occasions about this commitment, but to no avail so far.”
None of the urea factories are in north Bengal, the rice-rich region of the country, and “our dealers have to buy urea from buffer godowns there at a higher price,” the BFA chairman added.
Contacted by phone, Industries Minister Dilip Barua told this correspondent that he was aware of the fertilizer dealers’ threat of strike.
He acknowledged that he had assured the BFA of considering the disparity problem but declined that he had made any promise in that respect.
Barua, however, said he would discuss the issue with the agriculture minister.
Talking to The Daily Star, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said the issue had been taken up with the finance minister. She hoped there would soon be a solution to the issue of urea pricing.
Urea constitutes a major portion of chemical fertilizers that farmers apply to rice — both the rainy-season Aman and dry-season Boro.
Government provides Tk 6,000 crore to Tk 9,000 crore worth of subsidies for urea prices each year as the country turns heavily dependent on the import of the chemical fertilizer.
Most of the BCIC urea factories remain out of operation half the year thanks to a persistent supply crunch of gas, compelling the government to meet the yearly domestic requirement of urea by importing up to 1.7 million tonnes, against the total demand of 2.4 million tonnes.
People in the farm sector fear if the issue is not resolved soon enough, farmers would take the brunt of a possible distribution disruption during the peak Aman season.
Bangladesh Fertilizer Association (BFA) has threatened to go on strike after next Saturday if the government does not resolve the pricing issue by then.
BFA, which commands over 5,000 chemical fertilizer dealers in the country, has long been demanding removal of the price disparity in urea delivered from mill gates and buffer godowns.
“The dealers have to procure urea from the government’s buffers at a higher price than they usually pay at the mill gate,” BFA Chairman Kamrul Ashraf Khan told The Daily Star.
Industry sources said the disparity between the factory price and the buffer price continues to exist, even after the recent cut in urea price by the government.
Against Tk 700 factory price of urea (per 50 kg sack), the buffer price is Tk 735, according to Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), the state-run body that operates the six urea manufacturing factories in the country.
Through a press conference on September 21, the BFA plans to go for tough programmes including indefinite strikes if the government fails to keep its “commitment” to reducing the buffer price of urea.
BFA Chairman Kamrul Ashraf Khan told The Daily Star that while attending the annual general meeting of the association back in April this year, Industries Minister Dilip Barua and State Minister for Industries Omar Faruq Chowdhury had promised to remove the price disparity.
Since then, said Khan, “We have reminded the government on several occasions about this commitment, but to no avail so far.”
None of the urea factories are in north Bengal, the rice-rich region of the country, and “our dealers have to buy urea from buffer godowns there at a higher price,” the BFA chairman added.
Contacted by phone, Industries Minister Dilip Barua told this correspondent that he was aware of the fertilizer dealers’ threat of strike.
He acknowledged that he had assured the BFA of considering the disparity problem but declined that he had made any promise in that respect.
Barua, however, said he would discuss the issue with the agriculture minister.
Talking to The Daily Star, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said the issue had been taken up with the finance minister. She hoped there would soon be a solution to the issue of urea pricing.
Urea constitutes a major portion of chemical fertilizers that farmers apply to rice — both the rainy-season Aman and dry-season Boro.
Government provides Tk 6,000 crore to Tk 9,000 crore worth of subsidies for urea prices each year as the country turns heavily dependent on the import of the chemical fertilizer.
Most of the BCIC urea factories remain out of operation half the year thanks to a persistent supply crunch of gas, compelling the government to meet the yearly domestic requirement of urea by importing up to 1.7 million tonnes, against the total demand of 2.4 million tonnes.
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