There is enough salt in reserve in the country to meet the local demand for the next 10 months, including the need for the processing of rawhide in the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha, Bangladesh Small & Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) said Sunday in a press release.
According to the BSCIC, Bangladesh has a stock of 20 lakh 3 thousand metric tonne salt, which includes the new salt produced during the just-concluded season and old salt surplus at the end of last season -- about 1.50 lakh tonnes more than the total demand of the country.
The total demand for edible and industrial salt in the country was estimated at 18.49 lakh metric tonnes in the fiscal year 2019-2020. Of this, a total of 15.70 lakh metric tonnes of crude salt has been produced in the just-concluded season, as per the BSCIC Industrial Development and Extension Department and the BSCIC Salt Industry Development Office in Cox's Bazar.
The last season's surplus salt was 4 lakh 33 thousand tonnes.
Of this, the total amount of salt at the salt field and mill level will be 13 lakh 68 thousand tonnes, meeting the demand till May of the current financial year.
Additionally, there are stocks of iodized edible salt at the wholesale, retail dealers at the district level of the country.
The statement further said the demand for industrial salt in the country is comparatively low as the coronavirus crisis has disrupted industrial production.
On the other hand, the salt production season generally starts in November every year. As such, there are only 5-6 months left until the start of the new season, when new salt will start coming into the market.
When the new season arrives, there will be a surplus of salt to meet the national demand for industrial and edible salt with the existing stocks. As a result, "there’s no need to import salt this year," added the press release.
sr/teb
