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A severe gas shortage has brought production at around 450 dyeing factories in Narayanganj to a halt, disrupting supplies to the country’s knitwear and garment industries and raising concerns over export shipment deadlines.
Industrialists said gas pressure has dropped to virtually zero over the past two days, leaving dyeing units unable to process fabrics. As a result, hundreds of tonnes of grey fabric are reportedly piling up at factories across the industrial hub.
The disruption is also affecting garment factories that depend on dyeing units for finished fabrics. Many factories are reportedly operating intermittently—producing for a day and remaining closed for the next two days due to a shortage of fabric.
Industry owners fear the prolonged disruption could prevent exporters from meeting buyers’ scheduled shipment deadlines.
Dyeing factory owners said they have tried using alternative fuels such as rice husk, coal and firewood to generate boiler steam, but supplies of these fuels are insufficient to meet production needs. Consequently, many dyeing units have remained completely shut for the past two days.
Fazle Ehsan Shamim, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said the gas crisis had virtually stopped the supply of fabrics from dyeing factories.
“Gas pressure has fallen to zero. Many garment factories have been forced to suspend production due to the lack of fabric,” he said.
Citing his own factory as an example, Shamim said it had remained closed for seven consecutive days before reopening on Wednesday, but had to shut again on Thursday because the required fabric was unavailable.
He said the factory may resume production on Saturday if dyeing units can supply fabrics within the next two or three days.
However, given the current gas situation, he said there was little indication that the crisis would improve soon.
