Cattle traders, who have brought sacrificial animals to Dhaka’s cattle markets from various parts of the country, are fearing losses due to low presence of buyers.

A total of 24 cattle markets, including the permanent cattle market in Gabtoli, have been set up in the two city corporations of Dhaka this year ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, according to the authorities concerned.

Visiting two markets in Kachukhet and Bhasantek areas, our staff correspondent found huge supply of cattle but low presence of buyers till 12:30pm today.

Abul Kalam Azad, a cattle trader, told The Daily Star that he brought 49 cows to Kachukhet cattle market from Sirajganj but he managed to sell only three cows till yesterday, even after counting Tk 5,000 loss for the three.

Today, the trader was yet to make any sale till 12:30pm as the buyers did not respond to his expected price for the cattle.

The number of buyers is lower than in the previous year but their presence may increase in the last two days before Eid, he said.

“If the low presence of buyers still continues for the rest two days, I would have to sell the cattle at low prices,” Azad added.

Ibrahim, another trader at Kachukhet cattle market, said he brought 18 bulls from Jamalpur and sold only three of those till this noon but he could not make any profit.

As the price of cattle is higher than previous year, the buyers are not responding to the expected price, he said.

“I made a profit of Tk 80,000 during Eid-ul-Azha last year, but this year I am afraid of incurring loss,” Ibrahim added.

This correspondent made the same observation while talking to 10-12 other cattle traders in the two markets.

According to statistics of the Department of Livestock (DLS), there are more than 1.17 crore cattle, including cows, bulls, buffaloes, goats and sheep in the market this Eid.

Last year, there were 1.15 crore cattle in the market and about 1.05 crore of those were slaughtered in the Eid.

To assess the demand for sacrificial animals in a particular year, the DLS usually adds five lakh to the number of cattle slaughtered in the previous year. It estimated that the demand this year is 1.10 crore.