Rawhide sold at lowest prices

Wholesalers and the tannery owners said prices were low because of a drop in international prices of leather and the price hike of the salt. Also as most tanneries were still moving to Savar, many international buyers had stopped taking products from Bangladesh. This year, many traders sold rawhides to wholesalers at prices lower than what they had bought them for. During the three days of Eid, our correspondents talked to traders and wholesalers in different areas of Dhaka and Chittagong. On Eid day many seasonal traders came to Aminbazar, the biggest rawhide marketplace in Dhaka to sell their rawhide. Trader Amin Hamza, who came from Savar, said: “I had to buy these 30 rawhides for Tk1,000 apiece but wholesalers offered me only Tk800 which means Tk200 loss per piece.” Later Amir sold out all his rawhide for Tk900 when he realised that if he waited he would face more loss. Another trader, Abul Haque, came to sell 100 collected hides in the Posta area of old town. Although he had bought these for Tk1,100 to Tk1,600, wholesalers offered him Tk1,000-Tk1,100. “I do not know what to do with all these rawhides. I think I will have to sell all these for a loss.” Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants Association President Delwar Hossain said: “The price of rawhides this year is low because of the price hike of salt. To make everyone aware so that traders offer the right price, we announced our rates beforehand. So if they are now facing loss that is their fault.” On September 9, tannery owners and leather goods traders jointly set the prices for rawhides of sacrificial animals lowering the price by 10% from last year’s rate. The price of raw cowhide was set at Tk50 per square foot in Dhaka and Tk40 in other places. Price of goatskin was set at Tk20 per sqft in Dhaka and Tk15 in other places. In different rawhide marketplaces in Dhaka, our correspondents saw goatskin being sold at Tk50-60 apiece. The seasonal rawhide traders of port city Chittagong also incurred huge losses this year. Warehouse owners said they were also facing difficulties in purchasing hides as the traders did not follow the price charts and because of the skyrocketing price of salt. Rawhide traders in Chittagong said they collected around 350,000 hides till Tuesday night. Around 500,000 animals were slaughtered this Eid. There are around 200 rawhide warehouses in Chittagong. Rawhide traders said most seasonal traders had bought rawhide at Tk50-60 per sqft. Criticising the price rate fixed by the tanners, trader Muslem Uddin said: “They did not fix the price considering the reality, causing us much suffering.” In Chittagong city, seasonal traders purchased cowhides for Tk500-1,400 depending on the size while goatskins were bought for Tk100-150 during Eid day. The rawhide warehouse owners use to collect the cowhide from city’s Chowmuhuny, Dewanhat and Karnaphuli market area where different age of seasonal traders gathered in every eid.