Govt to procure 1 cargo LNG, 60,000 tonnes of fertilizer

The government has approved separate proposals for procuring one cargo of LNG and 60,000 tonnes of fertilizer to meet the growing demands of the country.

The approvals came from the 2nd meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) this year held on Wednesday virtually with Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Division additional secretary Sayeed Mahbub Khan said that the day's meeting approved a total of six proposals.

He said that following a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, the government would procure one cargo LNG from the spot market from M/S Vitol Asia, Singapore with around Taka 429.40 crore where per MMBtu LNG would cost $9.93.

Mahbub said following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure 30,000 metric tons of bulk prilled (optional) urea fertilizer from Muntajat, Qatar under the 11th lot under state-level agreement for the current fiscal year (FY24) with around Tk 109.17 crore where per ton fertilizer would cost $330.83.

The BCIC will also purchase another consignment of 30,000 metric tons of bulk granular (optional) urea fertilizer from SABIC Agri-nutrients Company, Saudi Arabia under the 13th lot under state-level agreement for the current fiscal year (FY24) with around Tk 114.67 crore where per ton fertilizer would cost $347.5.

The Cabinet Division additional secretary said the day's CCGP meeting approved another proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division okaying the 2nd supplementary agreement to be signed with the consulting Firm ILF Consulting Engineers, Germany worth around Tk 104.70 crore under the project titled 'Installation of single-point mooring (SPM) with double pipeline' being implemented by Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) under the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

The meeting approved another proposal also from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division under which the proposal for signing the 4th supplementary agreement with the EPC contractor CPPEC has been okayed with around Tk 382.82 crore under the project titled 'Installation of single-point mooring (SPM) with double pipeline' being implemented by Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) under the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

The CCGP meeting also approved a cost variation proposal from the Ministry of Water Resources.

Prior to the CCGP meeting, the 1st meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) this year was also held today with Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in the chair.

The meeting approved a proposal in principle from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division for including the OQ Trading Limited (OQT), Oman as the Master Sale and Purchase Agreement (MSPA) signatory firm for procuring LNG from the spot market.

/KN/