Urea production at the Yamuna Fertiliser Company Limited (JFCL) in Tarakandi, Jamalpur, has come to a sudden halt once again following the complete suspension of its natural gas supply.
Operations ceased on the morning of Sunday, 25 October 2026. The shutdown comes as a severe blow, given that the facility had only resumed operations on 23 October after a 15-day closure required to repair technical faults in its boiler system. The factory managed to operate for barely 48 hours before being forced offline due to the lack of fuel.
Delwar Hossain, Acting Manager of the factory, confirmed the operational disruption, explaining that production could not continue without gas. He noted that Titas Gas authorities informed the factory management that regular gas supplies are unlikely to resume before December.
Established in 1991 in Sarishabari Upazila’s Tarakandi, the Yamuna Fertiliser Factory originally boasted a daily production capacity of 1,700 metric tonnes of urea. Over time, persistent declines in gas pressure forced the plant to scale back its daily output to 1,300 metric tonnes.
Technical vulnerabilities and supply shortages have repeatedly disrupted operations at the facility over recent years. Severe gas shortages forced the plant to suspend all operations on 21 June 2023. Following months of inactivity, gas supplies were restored, enabling the plant to resume manufacturing on 18 December of that year.
Operational mishaps have also contributed to the facility’s unstable timeline. In January 2026, an inspection team led by Indian expert Tanaji S. Pandekar visited the plant to inspect the NG booster compressor within the ammonia unit. During the procedure, an accidental button press triggered an emergency shutdown accompanied by a loud bang, halting both ammonia and urea output.
Although engineers restored production after several days of intensive repairs, a subsequent leak in the reformer tubes forced another immediate shutdown shortly thereafter.
The renewed stoppage raises immediate concerns regarding agricultural supply chains. The plant serves as the primary supplier of urea for farmers across 19 districts in northern and central Bangladesh, including Jamalpur, Sherpur, and Tangail.
Prolonged closures threaten to trigger localized shortages, driving up market prices during peak cultivation periods. To bridge the resulting supply gap, the government will likely need to import additional quantities of urea from international suppliers. Such emergency imports will place further strain on foreign exchange reserves while increasing public expenditures.
