ASHUGANJ: Country’s two big fertilizer manufacturers--Jamuna and Ashuganj Zia factories--resumed operation Tuesday, well ahead of the biggest farming season.

Jamuna Fertilizer Factory at Tarakandi in Jamalpur district began production of urea fertilizer Tuesday after four months’ lie-down for gas crisis.

Sources said the government shut down the largest fertilizer factory in the country on April 20 also for annual overhauling. It hampered the manufacturing of 1700 metric tonnes of urea, forcing the management to incur loss worth Tk 20 million daily, they added.

The factory even could not go into production on May 25, the scheduled date after the overhauling, as gas crisis prompted the government to divert the fuel into power plants as electricity crisis also crippled life and business.

Managing Director of the factory Ahsanuzzaman told banglanews that the factory “has no stock of fertilizer now”.

He informed that the factory resumed production of urea fertilizer after getting enough gas supply on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, Ashuganj Zia Fertilizer Factory also resumed production of urea fertilizer Tuesday after three days’ suspension for mechanical breakdown.

Managing Director of the factory Usman Gani told banglanews that they could go for production again at 10 am Tuesday as local engineers repaired the mechanical faults.  

Factory sources said the mechanical trouble hampered the manufacturing of 1400 metric tonnes of urea fertilizer, forcing them to count Tk 15 million in lost production daily.

Factory sources also said leakage in Top Asses Dom of High Pressure Carbonate Condenser (HPC) forced the suspension of factory operation early Sunday.

The factory was closed for a third time in the current month due to several technical glitches, the sources said.

“The fertilizer factory may be at risk in reaching its target in the current fiscal due to frequent suspension of production,” said one source.

Meanwhile, the factory sources informed, the factory has sufficient stock of fertilizer as of now.

BDST: 1300 HRS, SEPT 21, 2010