Bangladesh’s coastal salt industry faces a severe production crisis driven by erratic weather patterns and climate change, causing output to fall 28% below target for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. The resulting supply shortfall has spiked wholesale raw salt prices by 50% year-on-year, forcing the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (Bscic) to recommend importing 150,000 tonnes of raw salt to stabilize the domestic market.
Weather Disruptions and Production Shortfalls in FY26
Salt cultivation relies heavily on specific dry-season conditions, including temperature, humidity, and wind conditions. Intense heat between April and May typically allows farmers to harvest salt within four to nine days. However, adverse weather during the FY26 season—marked by heavy rainfall, prolonged cloudy conditions, and extreme heat—curtailed operations significantly. According to a Bscic report, the production season spanned 203 days from November 12, 2025, to May 25, 2026. Continuous heavy rain after April 26 struck Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar salt fields precisely when rapid evaporation was required. Consequently, farmers harvested crops up to 15 to 20 days early to salvage yields, drastically cutting potential output. Syed Mostafa Sadik Rizvi, a salt farmer in Moheshkhali, noted that despite favorable temperatures earlier, untimely rain forced premature harvesting that limited yields to roughly 1,500 maunds across two acres.
Historical Productivity and Land Loss in Cox’s Bazar
Production data covering 66 years compiled by Bscic illustrate long-term structural shifts in the sector. In FY72, the industry produced 637,000 tonnes against a demand of 388,000 tonnes. Cultivation peaked in acreage during FY2006, when 70,050 acres generated 1.575 million tonnes against a 1.17 million tonne target. Despite historical surpluses, cultivable land shrank in subsequent years due to major infrastructure projects in Moheshkhali and surrounding areas of Cox’s Bazar. Developments including power plants, fuel facilities, and a deep-sea port claimed nearly 4,000 acres of salt-producing land in Moheshkhali alone. The number of active salt farmers dropped from 44,574 in FY06 to 27,697 in FY21. A recovery occurred in FY24, yielding 2.438 million tonnes across 68,505 acres—achieving a productivity rate of 35.59 tonnes per acre, the highest in 62 years. Productivity fell subsequently to 32.54 tonnes per acre in FY25 across 69,198 acres, and dropped further in FY26 to 28.70 tonnes per acre across 67,757 acres, yielding a total of 1.945 million tonnes and a target achievement rate of just 71.63%.
Wholesale Price Surges and Import Recommendations
The persistent weather-induced deficits have driven sharp price increases across the supply chain. Raw salt currently sells at Tk380 per maund (40kg), compared to Tk253 a year earlier, marking a 50% increase of Tk127 per maund. Nurul Kabir, president of the Bangladesh Salt Mill Owners Association, stated that the production drop created a supply deficit that pushed prices upward toward the end of the season. To counter the shortage, Bscic recommended importing 150,000 tonnes of raw salt. Zafar Iqbal Bhuiyan, deputy general manager of Bscic’s salt industry development office, emphasized that the organization operates 12 salt centres in Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram’s Banshkhali to provide farmers with training, technological support, and loans to expand cultivable land.
Industrial Demand and Domestic Consumption Breakdown
Bscic estimates total annual salt demand between 2.2 million and 2.5 million tonnes. Processing and iodisation generate system losses of 17% to 20%. Demand for iodised edible salt exceeds 800,000 tonnes annually, while industrial demand hovers around 1 million tonnes. Domestic industries import roughly 500,000 tonnes of sulphate and dry sodium sulphate annually for use in sectors such as ready-made garments, textiles, detergents, and glass manufacturing. Domestically produced salt also supplies the country’s leather industry, feeding into approximately 120 types of manufactured goods nationwide.
