Govt approves import of 150,000 tonnes of fertiliser

The government has approved the import of 150,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Canada and Russia under four separate consignments, with 80,000 tonnes of muriate of potash (MOP) fertiliser to come from Canada and 70,000 tonnes of triple superphosphate (TSP) fertiliser from Russia.

The approvals were given at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, on Wednesday. The proposals were placed by the Ministry of Agriculture at the virtual meeting.

Under a government-to-government agreement between the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), the government approved the seventh consignment of 40,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser at a cost of Tk 188.90 crore. The price was set at $382.38 per tonne.

The committee also approved the eighth consignment of another 40,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser under the same agreement at the same cost.

Meanwhile, under an agreement between Russia’s JSC Foreign Economic Corporation Prodintorg and BADC, the government approved the import of 35,000 tonnes of TSP fertiliser in the third consignment at a cost of Tk 165.42 crore. The price was set at $382.38 per tonne.

The fourth consignment of another 35,000 tonnes of TSP fertiliser under the same agreement was also approved, at a cost of Tk 165.55 crore.