Bangladesh Factories Reopen as Gas Crunch Eases: FSRU Repair Restores 115 mmcfd Supply

Dhaka, August 9, 2026 — Factories across Bangladesh's industrial belts are reopening as the gas crunch that forced closures and layoffs begins to ease — with spinning mills in Gazipur reporting capacity utilization rising from 40 percent to 60-80 percent after the partial repair of the damaged FSRU restored 115 million cubic feet of gas per day to the national grid.

🏭 Production Resuming

"We can run our spinning mills at 60 percent to 80 percent now which was as low as 40 percent last week," said a top official of a large textile and garment group in Gazipur. Requesting anonymity, the official said they expect the power supply situation to improve soon as well. The improvement follows the partial repair of the Excelerate Energy FSRU on Thursday (August 6), which resumed supplying approximately 115 mmcfd of gas to the national grid by Friday.

👥 Workers Return After 3-Day Closure

Mazharul Alam Milon, administrative officer of ABM Fashion Ltd in Gazipur, told The Daily Star that the factory reopened after a three-day closure. "Work is continuing in all our sections, and the workers have also turned up as usual. Although the factory is fully operational, we are still facing a gas shortage," he said.

More than 200 small and subcontracting garment factories in Gazipur had sent workers on a three-day leave. Many other factories in Savar, Ashulia, Kanchpur, and Narayanganj took similar measures. The gradual reopening signals that the worst phase of the gas crisis — triggered by the July 21 FSRU fire — may be passing, though full normalization depends on the second boiler repair expected by August 10.