Bangladesh DAP plant idle 4 months as critical phosphoric acid approval stalls

Bangladesh’s only DAP plant has been idle for nearly four months because it has no phosphoric acid, and a government approval needed to import fresh supply is still pending, The Daily Star reported on October 26.

DAP Fertilizer Company Limited (DAPFCL), in Anwara upazila of Chattogram, stopped production on June 28. State-owned Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) tendered for 60,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid in three 20,000-tonne lots, with lowest bids of $1,079, $1,087 and $1,071.90 per tonne. The purchase, estimated at $64.8 million, was forwarded through the Ministry of Industries and awaits government sign-off. Officials said Bangladesh paid around $750 per tonne for the acid at the start of 2026.

Managing Director Mainul Haque said the plant had targeted about 100,000 tonnes this fiscal year but has produced nothing for four months. Ammonia comes from domestic producers KAFCO and Chattogram Urea Fertilizer, but the acid must be imported. Even after approval, restarting could take another six to eight weeks, plant officials said.

DAPFCL runs two units with combined capacity of 800 tonnes a day and typically produces about 500 tonnes daily. Bangladesh’s annual DAP demand is about 1.507 million tonnes, of which roughly 1.4 million tonnes is imported. Dhaka recently booked 40,000 tonnes of DAP from OCP at $866 per tonne.

Source: The Daily Star