Bangladesh’s textile sector is scrambling to secure alternative energy sources after a fire at one of its two liquefied natural gas import terminals last month deepened an already acute gas shortage across the industry’s manufacturing belts.
The blaze cut gas supply to just over half of demand, according to state-owned Petrobangla, compounding pressure already building from elevated energy costs tied to the Middle East war. Qatar, one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, has said supply to Bangladesh will be slashed after Iran’s near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz and bombing of Qatari LNG export facilities.
The textile industry employs roughly 4 million of Bangladesh’s 14 million industrial workers and generates about 80% of exports and 13% of GDP, but depends heavily on gas for washing, dyeing and finishing fabrics. The country has faced a longstanding gas shortfall as domestic production declines and import costs climb. Read Here
Mohd. Khorshed Alam, a director of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, said factories across Savar, Ashulia and Narayanganj were now operating up to 40% below capacity. Some mills have turned to compressed natural gas from roadside filling stations, or costlier diesel, to keep orders moving.
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“The country cannot build future industrial investment on uncertain LNG supplies and repeated supply disruptions. We need energy security, not piecemeal firefighting,” said Fazlul Hoque, managing director of Plummy Fashions, whose Narayanganj factory employs more than 1,000 people and has faced recurring disruptions for years, prompting him to weigh electrification and biomass.
Biomass is already widely used in Bangladeshi households for cooking, burned as pellets made from agricultural residues such as rice husk and bagasse. A handful of factories have begun burning biomass to fuel boilers, but the sector’s fuel demand is disproportionately large relative to the country’s biomass base and would compete with rural households, said Dr. Laxmikant Jawale, regional lead for South Asia and Southeast Asia at the Apparel Impact Institute, a nonprofit focused on decarbonising apparel supply chains. Infrastructure for aggregating biomass at industrial scale remains underdeveloped, and switching fuels requires investment in boiler retrofitting, he said. “Biomass thus cannot be a sector-wide strategy, rather it works better as a facility-by-facility, case-by-case option.”
Other options include electric boilers and heat pumps, which the Apparel Impact Institute says could cut energy use by up to 45%. But the group cautioned last year that heat pumps require heavy capital investment and grid-connected boilers alone cannot close the deficit unless power supply grows more consistent. Improving grid reliability nationwide would signal that renewable electricity is what the industry needs, Jawale said.
Alam, also managing director of yarn spinner Little Group, has installed rooftop solar panels, battery storage and energy-efficient motors at his own plants. He urged the government to remove duties on energy-efficient technology imports, support the sector’s shift to renewables, and step up exploration of domestic gas fields.
The disruption adds to concern among global buyers over Bangladesh’s ability to deliver orders on time, an edge the country has long held over rivals such as Vietnam, India and Cambodia. With brands weighing energy security alongside price, manufacturers say the crisis underscores the urgency of diversifying the sector’s fuel mix.