With two weeks to Eid-ul-Azha, the rawhide traders of Chittagong are facing an acute shortage of capital due to the enormous outstanding arrears of tannery owners.
Most tannery owners in Dhaka have not repaid what they owed to rawhide traders in Chittagong for the last three to four years.
As a result, hide traders in Chittagong are apprehending an acute shortage of capital to buy the rawhide of sacrificial animals this coming Eid.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Abdul Kader, former president of Chittagong Rawhide Warehouse Traders’ Cooperative Association Ltd, said tanners in Dhaka have not paid for hides they supplied to them as far back as three to four years ago.
“We have to sell the rawhide to tanners in Dhaka on credit. We are held hostage as they do not provide us with any cheque or document. The tanners of Dhaka always delay in paying off the money. The arrears now stand at Tk 25 crore,” said the rawhide trader.
“The banks do not give us loans. We have to manage funds on our own to procure the rawhides. We will face a cash crunch if the tanners do not clear their arrears,” added Kader.
"We are in a tight spot as tanners of Dhaka did not pay their arrears, which amounts to Tk 25 crore. After the Liberation War, there were as many as 22 tanneries in Chittagong. Our bargaining capacity with the tanners of Dhaka has gone down, as there is only one tannery functioning in Chittagong," said Muslim Uddin, adviser to Chittagong Rawhide Warehouse Traders’ Cooperative Association Ltd.
The veteran rawhide trader also urged the government to intensify monitoring so that they can sell rawhide to the tanners at prices set by the government.
Usually, 5-5.50 lakh pieces of rawhide are collected from Chittagong region during Eid-ul-Azha.
However, nearly four lakh pieces of rawhide were collected from the Chittagong region last year.
Failing to sell rawhides even at a nominal price, many seasonal traders of Chittagong dumped the rawhides on the streets.
The rawhide traders attributed the plummeting prices to acute fund crisis, as tanners did not pay their arrears before Eid.
This time the rawhide traders of Chittagong predict that 30 percent less rawhide will be collected due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the District Livestock Office, 730,840 heads of cattle were sacrificed in Chittagong in 2019.
112 merchants belong to the Chittagong Rawhide Warehouse Traders’ Cooperative Association Ltd, with another 150 rawhide merchants outside the association in Chittagong.
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.
