Chaos ensued in the sale of rawhide during and after Eid-ul-Azha despite the government fixing rawhide prices and Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi insisting on fair value.
Tanners and middlemen allegedly forced local seasonal traders to sell rawhides at their preferred prices – mainly due to a lack of proper monitoring by the authorities concerned.
Rawhides were sold at rock-bottom prices in many districts, leaving seasonal traders in suffering.
Prior to the second-largest Muslim festival, the government fixed the prices of salt-applied cow rawhide at Tk50-55 per square foot (sft) in Dhaka and Tk 45-48 per sft outside Dhaka. However, middlemen and tanners allegedly refused to pay even half the prices.
The commerce minister had promised strict monitoring by law enforcement and the administration to check whimsical pricing of rawhides, but no action was noticed since Eid day.
Over 450,000 pieces of rawhide were collected in the first two days of Eid-ul-Azha, said Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) Chairman Shaheen Ahamed on Saturday.
He said up to 9.5 million pieces of rawhides are likely to be collected from across the country this year.
Replying to a question on whether traders are buying rawhides at the rate fixed by the government, the BTA chairman claimed the tanners are buying rawhides at the government rates.
Rahman Sarkar, a seasonal rawhide trader in Rangpur who procured 100 hides, said that the government had set the price of hides at Tk48 per square foot. Thus, the hides of medium-sized cow hides should sell for at least Tk700-800, and larger hides for Tk1,000-1,200.
“After considering vehicle rent and other expenses, my costs amounted to more than Tk600 per hide, but middlemen are unwilling to pay more than Tk500,” he lamented.
In many districts, a large-size goatskin sold for a maximum of Tk30.
Many rawhides have been discarded or donated to local madrasas due to the absence of buyers.
In Nilphamari, Local traders are selling hides for a pittance, causing an uproar among seasonal sellers.
Jahidul Islam, a seasonal trader, described how he was compelled to sell 30 hides he had procured at Tk450-500 apiece for next to nothing in the market.
Traders said that the wages of labourers and the price of salt had soared, which is pushing up the cost of rawhide processing.
The outstanding bills they owe to tanners add to their woes.
Matiar Rahman, a seasonal trader in Kishoreganj, said: “The situation in the market is very bad. We saw no profit in the past two years. We bought every goatskin at Tk10 from villages. The middlemen and tanners offer the same price.”
Leader of the Rangpur Hide Traders Association, Ali Akbar, blamed syndicates for the ongoing crisis, accusing them of refusing to determine the price.
Another middleman, Momtazul Islam, asserted that it was impossible to buy hides at government-set prices due to the increased costs of salt and labour.
Rangpur Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Md Rezaul Islam Milon criticized certain syndicate businessmen for their monopoly and non-compliance with the government's pricing, calling for urgent action.
In Dunajpur's Ramnagar, trader Saiful Islam said that they collect rawhides from 13 upazilas.
“The hides are piling up as their sale has plummeted. Hoarders and tanners are showing less interest, citing higher labour and processing costs,” he added.
Meanwhile, Senior Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Tapan Kanti Ghosh on Saturday said there is no scope for smuggling rawhides out of the country due to the vigilance of law-enforcing agencies.
Our Rangpur correspondent Liakat Ali Badal contributed to the report
