Govt to import 155,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Canada, Russia, Saudi Arabia

The government has approved four proposals to import 155,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia at a total cost of Tk 982.61 crore.

The approval was given at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury at the Secretariat on Wednesday (September 23).

The minister joined the meeting online while abroad.

Under the approved deals, government will import 80,000 tonnes of muriate of potash (MOP) from Canada, 35,000 tonnes of MOP from Russia and 40,000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP) from Saudi Arabia.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) will procure the fertiliser under government-to-government or state-level agreements, with the cost met from the budget allocated for agricultural subsidies.

The Canadian MOP will be imported in two 40,000-tonne lots from Canadian Commercial Corporation at $383.80 per tonne, costing Tk 379.35 crore in total. The Russian MOP, the seventh lot under the existing state-level agreement with JSC Foreign Economic Corporation (Prodintorg), will cost Tk 165.90 crore at the same unit price.

The 40,000-tonne DAP consignment from Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden, the fourth lot for 2026, will cost Tk 437.37 crore, with the price set at $885 per tonne.

The purchases are part of the government’s procurement plan to maintain fertiliser supplies for the 2026-27 fiscal year. BADC’s annual import targets include 716,000 tonnes of MOP and 991,000 tonnes of DAP.