Dbarta24 Report – Following days of acute gas supply disruptions that severely crippled manufacturing across Bangladesh, industrial zones have reported a slight recovery in gas pressure.
Operations at several previously shuttered units resumed on Sunday evening after emergency talks between business leaders and Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, alongside swift government intervention.
Despite the temporary relief, factory owners and trade body representatives warn that systemic vulnerability remains high.
The manufacturing sector continues to absorb the brunt of a national gas deficit triggered by reduced Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports, raising doubts about the sustainability of current production levels.
Severe Deficit Borne Chiefly by Manufacturers
Prior to recent outages at offshore Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs), daily national LNG supply stood at 1,050 million cubic feet (mmcfd).
At that time, power generation absorbed 950 mmcfd. Although total LNG supply has plummeted to 700 mmcfd, allocation to the power grid remains unchanged at 950 mmcfd, and allocations to fertilizer plants also remain intact.
Consequently, the entire national deficit of approximately 400 mmcfd has been redirected onto industrial consumers.
Factories under Titas Gas—the country’s largest distribution utility—have experienced the sharpest decline.
Allocation to Titas-served industries dropped from 1,042.6 mmcfd to just 619.4 mmcfd, representing a standalone reduction of over 400 mmcfd.
Production Capacity Retains Moderate Recovery
Mohammad Hatem, President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), confirmed that gas pressure in the Narayanganj industrial cluster rose from 2 PSI around noon to 3 PSI by Sunday afternoon—sufficient to restart halted lines.
He noted that while morning shifts faced severe downtime, afternoon shifts resumed partial production.
Similarly, sources within the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) reported that while operations are restoring, most units remain capped at roughly 70% capacity due to low pressure.
Mohammad Khorshed Alam, BTMA Director and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Gas, Power, and Utilities, emphasized that equipment bottlenecks remain critical.
Industrial boilers designed to handle a load of 1,500 units are currently operating at around 600 units due to pressure limitations, forcing multi-generator operations that cap overall efficiency between 60% and 70%.
Disparities Across Industrial Sectors
The recovery across major consumer goods manufacturers remains uneven:
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Meghna Group of Industries (MGI): Operations have resumed across key units, including sugar refineries, after days of full operational shutdown, according to Senior General Manager S.M. Mujibur Rahman.
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T.K. Group: Director Shafiul Athar Taslim reported no noticeable improvement, with boiler gas pressure remaining critical at below 1 PSI.
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Gazipur Industrial Belt: Home to over 3,500 manufacturing units, factories in Gazipur continue to face intermittent downtime, leaving large numbers of workers idle despite slight localized pressure gains.
Call for Equitable Gas Allocation
Business leaders emphasize that maintaining current factory runs requires an immediate, equitable redistribution of available natural gas across all sectors.
Industry representatives continue to convene emergency sessions to formulate strategies for navigating the deficit.
Without targeted policy interventions to rebalance supply between power generation and manufacturing, industrial hubs face recurring disruptions that could jeopardize domestic supply chains and export output.