The rawhide market in Khulna has turned into a woe of seasonal sellers. In Chittagong too there is little hope as wholesale traders there say they are in a tight spot due to the money they are owed by tanners.
In Khulna, talking to seasonal sellers, including the madrasa authorities, this correspondent found that the rawhide which could be sold for Tk300 last year during the season of Qurbani (slaughter of sacrificial animals) has now been sold for only Tk100.
Md Asadullah, a teacher at the Kajdia Mahila (girls’) Madrasa in Rupsha upazila, said: "The rawhide, which we sold at Tk3000-3200 a few years earlier was sold only at Tk500-800 last year. The situation is worse this year.
Md Nazrul Islam, a teacher at Kashemul Ulum Madrasa, and an Imam of Masjide Baitul Muazzam, said: "We could get 150 pieces of rawhide (donation) this year and may get 10-15 pieces more. But last year we got 204 pieces. The number of sacrifices may have declined this year because of the coronavirus situation, in consequence of which we have received fewer hides."
Md Abu Zafar, a wholesale trader from Yasin Leather, said the firm could sell 18-20 square feet of procured hides at Tk100 and 30-32 square feet at Tk500. The prices were Tk300 and Tk 800 respectively last year.
"Wholesalers are in a deep crisis as tannery owners have not cleared our due payments for over four to five years. I am yet to be paid Tk15 lakh; and 30 to 32 other wholesalers in Khulna are in the same situation."
A similar sentiment was expressed by wholesaler Amanullah Aman of Aman Leather Complex.
Firoz Bhuiyan, managing director of Fultola Super Tannery, said: "We are trying as per the government's directive so that no rawhide gets damaged in Khulna division. We are determined to clear the dues of the wholesalers. None of them yet have sustained losses. Due to our initiative rawhides are safe from damage and smugglers."
Stating that their tannery was the largest leather processing unit in South Asia, Firoz provided data and said the tannery had been receiving increasing amounts of rawhides from wholesalers and individual traders over the last few years.
"Currently we have 4 lakh pieces of processed hides in stock. In 2019, we received 2.5 lakh pieces of rawhides; this year our target is to acquire 5 lakh pieces."
In Chittagong, Moslem Uddin, an adviser to Chittagong Rawhide Warehouse Traders’ Cooperative Association Ltd, talked to Dhaka Tribune on Saturday on behalf of the wholesalers.
He said 500,000 to 550,000 pieces of rawhide usually were collected from Chittagong during Eid-ul-Azha.
“This time we have a target of procuring around 4 lakh pieces of rawhide since 30% less rawhide may be collected due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Moslem.
“The depots have already collected some 20,000 pieces of rawhide till 3pm. Nearly 1 lakh pieces of rawhide will be collected on the first day of Eid-ul-Azha,” said the veteran rawhide trader, adding that the rest of the salted rawhide would be collected in the next few days.
Moslem also urged an intensification of monitoring so that rawhide could be sold to tanners at prices set by the government.
“I have been to Dhaka to recover arrears of Tk11 lakh from a tanner in Dhaka. However, I was given only Tk25,000. The same thing happened to other rawhide traders of Chittagong,” said Abdul Kader, former president of Chittagong Rawhide Warehouse Traders’ Cooperative Association Ltd.
“The arrears now stand at Tk25 crore. We are in a tight spot. On the one hand, we have to manage the fund on our own as the tanners are not clearing the arrears. On the other hand, we have to make sure that the rawhides do not get damaged,” said the rawhide trader.
Altogether 112 merchants belong to the Chittagong Rawhide Warehouse Traders’ Cooperative Association Ltd, with another 150 rawhide merchants outside the association in Chittagong.
This year, tanners will buy cowhide at Tk35 to Tk40 per square foot in Dhaka and Tk28 to Tk32 per square foot elsewhere.
The price of goat hide has been set between Tk10 and Tk15 per square foot across Bangladesh.
The rawhide traders of Aturar Depot in the city said that they had bought cowhide at Tk 300-400.
Around 200 rawhide warehouses are housed in the Chittagong region and 20,000-25,000 people are directly and indirectly involved in the rawhide business.
At present, only one tannery is in operation in Chittagong.
“Usually we buy 1 lakh pieces of rawhide during Eid-ul-Azha. This time we have decided to buy 50,000 pieces of rawhide as 50% of the previous stock of tanned leather has remained unsold,” said Md Mokhlesur Rahman, Director of Reef Leather in Chittagong.
Shafiqul Mannan Siddiqui, Chief Conservancy Officer of Chittagong City Corporation, told Dhaka Tribune that the corporation had taken all-out preparations to clear waste from the major thoroughfares of the city by 4pm on Eid day.
“As many as 5,000 workers will clean up the garbage from the lanes and by-lanes of the port city by 8pm on Eid day,” said the official.
According to the District Livestock Office, 730,840 heads of cattle were sacrificed in Chittagong in 2019.