Textile mill owners demand uninterrupted LNG supply

Textile, spinning, and dyeing mill owners have urged the government to provide uninterrupted liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply to the national grid to ensure adequate gas pressure in factories as low pressure severely hampers production.

Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) President Mohammad Ali Khokon made the call at a press conference at a city hotel on Thursday.

The association said 50 per cent of production capacity remained unused on average due to a shortage of gas supply to textile mills.

“We are unable to run factories due to low gas pressure, but Titas Gas is not paying heed to our call,” Khokon said.

“If it continues, we cannot pay workers’ salaries, repay bank loans, and will also fail to meet buyers’ demands,” he said.

The BTMA president said some of the factories have only 1.5 pounds per square inch (PSI) of gas pressure, although they were approved 10 PSI or more for operations.

“Even that sometimes reduces to zero PSI. We cannot continue production because of this and incur huge losses. Dyeing factories face more problems,” he said.

He added, “Most of our factories continue production using captive power, but LNG is the main fuel. When LNG pressure falls and there is a power outage, the whole colour setting of a batch of products is damaged.”

Data from BTMA member mills show gas pressure has come down to as low as 1.5 PSI in some factories in Narayanganj, Savar, Dhamrai, Saturia, Manikganj, Gazipur, and Chattogram. These mills are reportedly running without utilising 70 per cent of their capacity.

“This is an important issue for the textile sector, and we are requesting the government to consider it,” said Khokon.

The BTMA said it had sent a letter to Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy adviser to the prime minister, on September 15, seeking a solution to the problem and an increase in gas pressure to smoothly run factories.

At a meeting at the energy ministry on the same day, the government decided to keep CNG filling stations closed for four hours (6pm-10pm) every day from Sunday to increase gas supply for power generation.

Khokon said, “We do not need incentives or other facilities. Our only demand is the government supply uninterrupted LNG.”

“The government established LNG terminals by spending a lot of money, and we now need the benefits. The government can increase gas pressure soon if it wants,” he added.