Crown Cement Plans 40% Increase in Production Capacity

Former Samabaya Bank chairman Mohiuddin Ahmed is implicated in the disappearance of over 13,000 bhori of gold that borrowers deposited as collateral with the state-run bank. A case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) indicates that 5,803 bhori were deposited by Narayanganj Cooperative Credit Limited and 7,398 bhori by 2,316 individual borrowers.

Before the last parliamentary elections, an account named Mostak Traders was opened at Union Bank's Banani branch on November 15, 2022, with an initial deposit of approximately 255.7 million taka through 17 transactions. By January 9, 2024, cash withdrawals from this account totaled around 720 million taka, primarily from the Gulshan branch, before the account was closed on August 20. Notably, a loan of 550 million taka was issued to Mostak Traders, which has since defaulted. Information related to the account has been deleted from the bank's online database.

In 2017, the government approved six diesel-based power plants with a total capacity of 1,000 megawatts, despite low demand. These plants, operational since the following year, rarely exceeded 20% capacity utilization, leading to significant financial losses for the government. Over five years, these high-cost plants resulted in expenses of several thousand crores. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, they operated at an average of just 1%, with production costs reaching 173.59 Taka per unit.

Summit Group has lost two major projects: the construction of a second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and a 15-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contract, following interim government action. A committee formed by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) recommended canceling the FSRU contract, which automatically voids the linked LNG supply deal.

Summit Power International Limited (SPIL), based in Singapore, has urgently appealed to the Bangladesh government to remove Summit Group from an NBR notice suspending share transfers. In a letter dated October 4, 2024, SPIL warned that this suspension jeopardizes lender rights under project security agreements, violating implementation terms and risking loan defaults.

Recent political changes in Bangladesh have halted many government development projects, leading to a sharp decline in the private housing sector. As a result, sales of rod and cement have plummeted, with rod sales decreasing by 50-70% and cement sales dropping by 35-40% over the past two months. This decline has forced companies to reduce production levels.