Representatives from Saudi state-owned company Ma’aden and the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation signed a new agreement to import diammonium phosphate fertilizer in Riyadh on 15 December 2024. Photo: Collected
The Bangladesh government has signed a new two-year deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to import 400,000 tonnes of fertilizer. The aim is to boost food production, meet consumers' growing needs, and ensure food security.
Rapid urbanization and a growing population have led to a shrinking food production capacity for the South Asian country, which is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, the Arab News reported.
However, Bangladeshi government officials are working round the clock to mitigate the crisis. The deal was signed between Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and Saudi state-owned company Ma'aden in Riyadh on 15 December, who have been long-time partners.
"Good quality fertilizer plays a vital role in ensuring food security for our 175 million people. This fertilizer helps us increase productivity in many ways," BADC general manager Ahmed Hassan Al-Mahmud told Arab News.
Under the latest deal, Ma'aden will supply 400,000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate fertilizer every year until 2026 and provide training for Bangladeshi farmers.
"The Saudi state-owned fertilizer company offered to provide training for our farmers, for knowledge transfer on optimizing the use of the DAP fertilizers," Al-Mahmud said, adding that Ma'aden has also offered to build fertilizer warehouses in Bangladesh.
The Saudi imports will contribute to about one-third of Bangladesh's annual DAP fertilizer needs, which stands at about 1.3 million tonnes, he added. Bangladesh also stands to benefit more from the latest agreement, as fertilizers cost $2 less per tonne compared to the average market price.
"It will save us a significant amount of money," Al-Mahmud said. "Saudi Arabia has been our trusted supplier for a long time, and we can purchase it at a reasonable rate compared with other sources."
While the South Asian nation also imports from China and Morocco, Al-Mahmud said that the Kingdom was a "dependable and reliable source."
He added, "We have been importing fertilizer from the Kingdom for more than 15 years. It takes only around 2 weeks to import fertilizer from the Kingdom, while from Morocco it takes more than 6 weeks. From that perspective also, Saudi Arabia is our preferred country for importing fertilizer."
Source: Online/GFMM
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