Fuel crisis forces closure of Bogura aluminium factories

The aluminium utensil industry in Bogura's Talora port area is on the verge of extinction due to soaring prices of fuel oil and a complete outage of gas – a cheaper alternative option to fuel oil.

The cost of production with furnace oil is so high that 10 out of 11 factories here have been forced to close in the last four years, according to local traders.

Some aluminium utensils are still being made in Talora but without a gas connection, the only factory running will have to be shut down soon, they said.

Gas supply is available in Bogura town, only 20km away from this port. A few factories are producing utensil products using gas as fuel, which brings down the production cost significantly.

Talora port, which is only 5km away from Dupchanchia Sadar upazila, is well connected by rail and river. For this reason, in 1954, the very first utensil factory called Mrs Khetwat Aluminum Works was set up here by an Indian national Laduram Agarwal.

According to locals, some 12 small and large factories sprouted in the port area gradually to meet the demand, employing more than 500 local workers.

These factories produce a variety of aluminium cookware products including pots, pans, buckets, and mugs, which are sold in different parts of the country including Bogura, Pabna, Sirajganj, Naogaon, Joypurhat, Gaibandha, Rangpur and Kurigram.

Ingots (large sheets of aluminium), and various other metals are used as raw materials in the factories. Furnace oil, burning oil and jute sticks are used for smelting the metals.

The price of furnace oil is increasing by about Tk30-35 per litre a year. It costs Tk16 to make one kg of utensils using furnace oil. On the contrary, it costs only Tk8-9 to produce the same amount of utensils with gas.

Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury, owner of Pragati Aluminium in Talora which was forced to close two years ago, said, "Our business got hit hard by the fuel crisis. Gas is available in the city but not here. The price of furnace oil has skyrocketed over the last few years, multiplying our production costs."

"I could not survive the loss. Besides, my factory could not be shifted elsewhere as no plot was allotted in my name in the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) industrial zone in ​​Bogura," he said.

Paban Prasad Poddar, the owner of Talora Aluminium, also closed his factory almost a year ago.

The businessman said the crisis began a few years ago when factories in the city's suburbs were connected to gas as fuel.

"The government is reluctant to provide gas connection to those of us who have factories at the upazila level. As a result, we lost our factories and many have lost their jobs," he said.

Shafiqul Islam Babu, a small but seasoned worker in the industry, built his own factory three years ago. He invested with loans from private companies and banks. But the coronavirus pandemic has put his business in jeopardy.

Shafiqul said the demand for his products is much higher in the Talora market than products of other factories because he only produces tiffin boxes.

He is currently running his business on a much smaller scale with loans with high-interest rates. For this reason, this small entrepreneur has demanded a low-interest loan from the government.

Sourav Aluminum Works is the only factory in Talora still running operations. Subhas Prasad Kanu, the owner of the factory, said that the production will be doubled as soon as the gas connection is established. 

"Production costs will also be lower. With the cost of one month of furnace oil, we can buy gas and produce utensils for six to seven months," he said.

Subhas further said that when the gas connection was given to Bogra four years ago, the traders of this port had given a memorandum to the deputy commissioner demanding gas. But their demands were not met.

The situation has put the livelihoods of many traders and workers in a quandary and the issue needs to be taken into consideration by the government, Subhas Prasad added.

AKM Mahfuzur Rahman, deputy general manager of the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), said, "BSCIC provides low-interest loans to small entrepreneurs. In addition, training facilities for entrepreneurs are also available."

"Bogura is an industrial area in North Bengal and there are many traders here. Thus, it is difficult for the BSCIC to allocate space for all of them at present. There is a possibility of another BSCIC city in Bogura and the rehabilitation of aluminium traders will be considered at that time," he said.

Asked if a gas connection would be provided to save Talora Aluminium Industry, Bogura Deputy Commissioner Ziaul Haque said the government has the opportunity to connect gas to industrial factories. 

"I will contact the gas companies in this regard. At the same time, I will inform senior government officials in correspondence on how to save these factories," the DC added.