Finance
Plastic Production Raw material of plastic products being produced in Bangladesh, going to India-Nepal
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, Oct 1: There has been a silent revolution in the production of plastic products in the country. However, the raw material of this product was completely dependent on imports. It was hampering production to some extent. From now on, the raw material for the production of plastic products will be made in the country.
The large industrial group Meghna Group of Industries (MGI) is investing heavily to manufacture these raw materials of plastic products in the country.
The concerned said that a factory has been set up in Meghna Economic Zone at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj. About 700 people have been employed there. The plant is up and production has started. The resin produced has started to be exported beyond the borders of the country. About four thousand crore rupees have been invested in this factory. The ING Bank of the Netherlands has provided a large loan facility for this project.
Chairman of Meghna Group, Mustafa Kamal, said that the demand for raw materials for plastic products is increasing. That's why I invested in this industry. The annual production of raw materials in the new factory will be able to meet more than half of the domestic demand.
The group's factories will produce PVC and PET resin, the key raw materials for plastics, which were previously entirely import-dependent. According to the data of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), in the last fiscal year 2021-22, plastic product manufacturers imported 326 thousand tonnes of PVC. USD 47 million was spent on it. And pet resin has been imported 2 lakh 29 thousand tonnes. It cost 27 million dollars.
Afzal Hossain, Senior AGM (Finance) of Meghna Group said that it will actually produce 100 percent import-dependent products. In the factory, we will produce PVC and PET resin. We are fully importing these two items. No manufacturing plant existed earlier. Earlier we had to import them from China. Production in our factory will now save a lot of foreign currency.
He said that the annual demand for PVC resin is more than 400,000 tonnes. Where our capacity is one and a half lakh tonnes. We can meet up to 40 percent of the demand. Products like PVC pipes, furniture, and plastic sheets can be made with this resin. In the case of PET resin, it can be said that we will be able to meet 90 percent of the demand.
Entrepreneurs are dreaming of exporting plastic goods worth Tk 10 billion in 2030 to meet the needs of the country. In that case, the Meghna Group's factory will play an important role, the sector stakeholders think.
