Seasonal rawhide traders in Mymensingh region are in deep crisis as they cannot sell the skins at expected prices with buyers offering them lower amount.

Skins of the sacrificed animals are not being bought at government-set prices even though they were lowered by 30 percent than that of last year, mainly to create a demand at the field level.

The traders alleged that a syndicate is behind it, saying that most of the raw hides remained unsold or are being sold at throwaway prices.

Abdul Motalab, one of the lease holders of Shambhuganj Rawhide Market in the city, said the availability of rawhide at the market this year is around 50 percent less than last year's.

As of August 8, only 15,000 pieces of rawhide out of total 70,000 were sold, he said.

Many traders expressed frustration during a recent visit to the market, which is the largest in the region. Many of them were yet to get any customers.

Tota Mia, a trader from Netrakona, said he bought 612 pieces of rawhide from different villages in Sadar upazila. Only to reach those to the market, he had to spend Tk 480 for each piece, he said.

"But I was forced to sell each of them only at Tk 500 as the buyers were not offering more than that," he said.

"If they offered government-set rate, the price of every piece would be Tk 800- 1,000," said Tota Mia.

The trader said he had incurred loss last year too and the amount was Tk 1.2 lakh.

Similarly, Abul Bashar from the same district said he had to sell out each of 110 skins at Tk 550 on an average but he had to spend some Tk 600 for every piece. "I had to incur Tk 8,000 loss in per piece," lamented Bashar.

Phul Kumar from Mymensingh Sadar was yet to sell any of his 1,000 pieces he bought this year at Tk 6 lakh. "I will have to incur a huge loss as the market situation is not favourable," he said.

Similar things happened to Shaheed Mia who bought 2,000 pieces of rawhide by investing Tk 12 lakh. He said representatives from three tanneries of Dhaka came to the market and they did not want to buy skins without throwaway prices.

Talking to The Daily Star, Swapan Rabi Das from Char Nilaxia village in Mymensingh Sadar said he sold 160 pieces of goat skin out of 200 at low prices. "Now I am not getting any customers for the rest pieces," he said.

The government has fixed the prices of salt applied rawhide of cows and buffaloes for outside Dhaka between Tk 28 and Tk 32 per square ft, which is also 20 percent lower than the prices of last year.

The prices of goat skin were set between Tk 13 and Tk 15 per square ft which is 27 percent less than last year and the prices of female goat skin were fixed between Tk 10 and Tk 12 per square ft which is 23 percent less than the prices of last year.

Mizan Mia, an official of Reliance Tannery in Dhaka, said he bought some 3,500 hides from the bazar on August 8. The price is comparatively lower than the last year's, he added.

He said there is no scope for formation of syndicate by tannery owners or rawhide wholesalers.

Mohammad Dulal, chairman of Raisa Leather in Dhaka, said he bought 2,100 pieces of rawhide this year. "Normally, I purchase its three folds," he said.

"A large number of hides remained unsold in my stock previously, due to coronavirus pandemic," said Dulal. Once the situation improves, the prices will go up, he said.

More than 1,500 traders -- who came to the market with sacrificial animals' skins this year – are disappointed by the low price, said the lease holder, Abdul Motalab.