Cabinet approves of urea export to Nepal

The government has approved 50,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser procurement to export to neighbouring country Nepal.

The approval came at a virtual meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement on Wednesday.

“The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation will purchase 50,000 tonnes of urea from Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Limited at a cost of around Tk 109.64 crore and export the fertiliser to Nepal. The proposal was approved today,” said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal at a virtual press briefing following the meeting.

Currently, Bangladesh imports fertiliser to meet the local demand. Against this backdrop, the minister said, "We’re supplying fertiliser to Nepal from Kafco. This is our first trade with our neighbouring country Nepal. I think this will brighten our image in the international arena.”

“A country can export after importing any products,” he said citing Singapore that does not make anything, but exports after import. “We did the same thing too.”

As per the bilateral agreement, the urea fertiliser of 40,000 tonnes will be sold at $257.37 per tonnes and the remaining 10,000 tonnes in packs at $262.37 per tonnes, said Additional Cabinet Secretary Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal during the press briefing.

Last week, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) signed a bilateral agreement with Nepal’s Krishi Samagri Company Limited to export the fertiliser to the government of Nepal.