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The sale of rawhide at the retail level has dropped significantly as the tanners procured the items directly from the households, the rawhide traders have said.
The retail sale of the rawhide has been declining over the last few years as the owners of tanneries have been buying rawhides directly during Eid.
Some 9.95 million animals were sacrificed this year, which is 8.57 lakh higher than last year, according to data from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
Some 2.49 million animals have been sacrificed in the Dhaka division. However, the wholesale businessman collected only 4.5 lakh pieces of rawhides on Eid day.
Bikash Chandra Das, Deputy Director of the Department of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP), said the authorities have conducted drives in major wholesale markets in Dhaka to ensure fair price of rawhide.
“We continue to monitor the market in Amin Bazar, Posta and Hemayetpur. The district offices are also monitoring the local markets. The raw hides from other parts of the country will enter Dhaka a week after Eid as the businessmen were directed to preserve the quality of raw hides,” Bikash Chandra told the Daily Sun.
The government officials expressed hope that the target of 10 million raw hides collection will be fulfilled once the animal skins from other parts of the country will enter Dhaka.
Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants Association General Secretary Tipu Sultan said the local businessmen were asked to preserve hide with salt for seven days after Eid.
Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) General Secretary Shakhawat Ullah said the owners of the tannery bought around 4.5 lakh raw hides on Eid Day.
“The volume is 50,000 higher than last year,” he said.
Sector insiders are claiming that the European Union (EU) and US brands are not buying Bangladeshi leather as the pollution of the leather city in Hemayetpur has not stopped. As a result, the main buyer of Bangladeshi leather is now China.
The tannery zones in Hazaribagh have been declared red zone by the authorities, a move which is preventing the tannery owners to sell off their facilities. As a result, the tanneries face difficulties in paying their bank loans.
Ashikur Rahman, a businessman in the Postagola area, said the supply of leather was lower during this Eid as the merchants collected 2,000 rawhides so far against the target of 4,000 raw hides.
The traders bought 300 bags of salt to preserve the skins, of which 120 sacks are still unused.
This year, the price of salted cow rawhide has been fixed at Tk 47-52 per sq ft in Dhaka and Tk 40-44 outside Dhaka. Besides, the price of goat hide has been set at Tk 18-20 per sq ft for male goats and Tk 12-14 per sq ft for the hide of female goats.
Exports of leather and leather products stood at $1.24 billion in FY 2021-22.
(DS)
