Rawhides being sold at low prices
Rawhides across the country are not being sold at government-fixed prices due to low demand from seasonal traders, said people who sacrificed animals during Eid-ul-Azha.
Seasonal traders are offering too low prices for the cowhide, like Tk 400 for the rawhide of cow that was bought at Tk one lakh, they said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "I bought my cow at Tk 1.16 lakh, but had to sell the cowhide for Tk 400 only," said Mubarak Hossain at Narsingdi.
Following the pandemic and other global crises, both the prices and demand for luxury goods like leather products and leather footwear declined worldwide, impacting rawhide prices in the local markets of Bangladesh.
Hayet Ullah, a seasonal rawhide trader, said he bought 25 pieces of cowhide today at Tk 400 and Tk 600 per piece, based on size.
He said he was targeting to buy rawhide worth Tk 25,000 this year.
"This year, the prices of rawhide are low as the demand from the tanneries is low," he added.
This year the price of salt-cured cowhides was set at Tk 55-60 per square foot in the capital and Tk 50-55 per sq ft outside the capital.
Last year, the price was set at Tk 50-55 per sq ft in Dhaka and Tk 47-52 per sq ft outside the capital.
According to the new rates, the lowest price per piece of cowhide has been fixed at Tk 1,200 in the capital and Tk 1,000 in other places.
The price of castrated goat hides has been fixed at Tk 20-25 per square foot, while it is Tk 18-20 per square foot for goat hides across the country this year.
Around 1.7 crore animals are expected to be sacrificed across the country during this Eid, of which, 55 lakh are cattle, while the rest are castrated goats, goats, sheep, and other animals.
Aftab Khan, president of Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants' Association, said the buy and sale of rawhide haven't yet gained momentum this year.
Usually, merchants buy the rawhide on the following days of Eid ul Azha from different major haats, he said, adding that they buy salt-cured rawhide from seasonal traders.
This year more than one crore pieces of rawhide are expected to be produced across the country this Eid, he told The Daily Star.
Over the last few years, a large number of rawhides have been dumped in rivers or buried in the ground, as seasonal traders at the grassroots were offered extremely low prices, and did not get money from rawhide merchants.
Also, rawhide merchants were not paid their arrears by the tanners.
Eid-ul-Azha accounts for roughly half of all rawhide collected each year, supplying significant raw material for Bangladesh's billion-dollar leather and leather goods export business.
Shaheen Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Tanners Association, said rawhide worth Tk 80 crore may be traded this year.
Banks have disbursed Tk 280 crore but due to the rescheduling of previous arrears, the full amount cannot be invested in the market, he said.
This is why Tk 80 crore worth of rawhide may be traded this time, he told The Daily Star today. More than 30 percent of tanned hide in the tanneries is still unsold, due to the lower demand from international customers, he added.
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