Cabinet committee approved importing 40,000 tonnes of urea from Saudi Arabia and 70,000 tonnes of DAP and TSP from Morocco to ensure adequate fertiliser supply for the upcoming season.
<cite index="35-2">The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) on 12 August approved proposals to import 40,000 tonnes of granular urea from Saudi Arabia, and 70,000 tonnes of DAP and TSP fertilisers from Morocco to ensure adequate supplies for farmers.</cite> <cite index="35-3">The approval came at a meeting held at the Bangladesh Secretariat with Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury in the chair.</cite>
<cite index="35-4,35-5">Under the first proposal, the committee approved the import of 40,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea from SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company of Saudi Arabia for the 2026-27 fiscal year, with the procurement cost at Tk209.06 crore at a price of $421.67 per tonne.</cite> <cite index="38-3">The deal with Morocco covers 40,000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and 30,000 tonnes of triple superphosphate (TSP).</cite>
The import approval comes as <cite index="32-4">reserves of some key fertilisers have fallen below safe levels, raising concerns about shortages during the upcoming cropping season amid the US-Israeli war on Iran and China's ban on fertiliser export.</cite> <cite index="32-7,32-10">DAP reserves of 3.90 lakh tonnes have fallen below the 5-lakh tonne safety threshold, while TSP stock at 3.53 lakh tonne is below the required 4 lakh tonne safe level.</cite>
<cite index="30-5">Officials from the agriculture ministry said Bangladesh has sufficient fertiliser stocks for July, August and September, which should be enough to meet demand through October.</cite> The timely approval of these imports is expected to support farmers in Naogaon and across Bangladesh during the critical Aman rice cultivation season.