The market for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Bangladesh is taking off, with new actors coming on the stage and fresh orders for both cylinder filling plants and cylinder manufacturing plants. We’ve taken a look at why this development is happening – and how it has led to the highest sales numbers ever for our team in Asia.
In January 2018, MAKEEN Energy set up its first office in Bangladesh to provide better service and operational support to clients in a market that was, at the time, growing faster than bamboo. With the country’s natural gas supplies running dry, LPG was hailed as the next big energy source to take its place. Companies and investors were stumbling over each other to invest in LPG infrastructure, and our team was preparing for an incredibly busy time ahead.
But then – nothing happened. Or close to nothing. With the exception of a small project and a few equipment sales, the market stalled completely. The initial rush to enter the LPG market had led to a shortage in both land and licenses. Couple that with difficulty in securing financing and a general uncertainty about the future of the market and the country’s political situation, and you have a market at near standstill.
Luckily, this was a temporary situation.
Things turned around near the end of 2020. With Bangladesh’s improved political stability, it became easier to find financial options for projects. At the same time, the players seeking to enter and establish themselves on the market, or grow their business further, changed. Where we previously felt interest from smaller companies, trying to establish themselves, we now saw big players entering the fray – companies able to secure financing for their projects and even several companies which had no prior involvement with LPG.
As a result, opportunities started to present themselves. To give an idea of just how many opportunities, here is an impressive number: in just 3 months, our team managed to land orders in Bangladesh for a value that exceeded their total annual budget for the entire southeast Asia region. An unprecedented achievement for us in that part of the world.
These orders included both LPG cylinder filling plants and our first cylinder manufacturing plant in Bangladesh.
Roaring market or not, results like these do not come on their own. It has taken hard work, coordination across borders and focused sales strategies. By focusing on selling value and return to decision-makers instead of products to users, our team managed to reduce the time needed to reach an agreement with the customer, which helps explain how they managed to reach these numbers so quickly.
Now, the market in Bangladesh is well and truly hitting its stride, with more opportunities and projects on the horizon and no signs of stopping. It is an exciting time for LPG solution providers such as us, and we look forward to helping more partners and customers in Bangladesh realise their ambitions.
