Wholesale merchants of rawhide have alleged that they are facing tough time following tanners’ reluctance to buy skins of sacrificial animals at a higher price even in the peak season this year. Although some traders managed to bag nearly 20 per cent higher price compared to the rates set by the merchants and tanners ahead of Eid-ul Azha, the increased rate was deemed too little in the current market when compared to the rising preservation and other costs, according to the merchants. The situation worsened further for the merchants when they came to know from most of the tanners that they were faced with fund shortage and that they would clear only 20 to 30 per cent of their total payment. They also pointed finger at some other reasons including downtrend in global market price, a rather tiny collection of rawhides this year due mainly to fall in number of slaughtering and fund crisis of the tanners following relocation of their setup at Savar. While visiting the rawhide market at Posta in Old Dhaka and Hazaribagh in the capital city, it was found that some rawhide traders were applying salt to their rawhides. While talking to the FE, rawhide merchant Mohammad Selim at Posta said he managed to sell out all 1,400 cattle skins he bought during this Eid. According to him, per square foot rawhide was bought at Tk 55 to Tk 60 while those were sold between Tk 65 to Tk 70 per square foot against the official rate of Tk 50 set earlier by the tanners. “But,” he said, “higher preservation cost especially that of salt ate up the profit. Hence, the market was not good as far as financial return was concerned.” This year, 80 per cent of the set target of overall rawhide was collected, traders informed. They said price of salt currently varies from Tk 1500 to Tk 1600 per sack of 74 kilograms whereas the price stood at just Tk 550 to Tk 600 during the festival last year. Rawhide trader Abdul Matin said a sack of salt is used for preserving seven cowhides while nearly Tk 90 is spent per hide. But, he said, the cost for salt is now hovering over Tk 200. Besides, Tk 250 more is needed in the form of transportation cost, wage for salt mixer, labor charge, purchaser’s commission and so on, he pointed. “This year, I sold a large size of rawhide at Tk 1500 the rate of which was Tk 2400 last year,” he said. When contacted, Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants’ Association (BHSMA) President Delwar Hossain said a small number of tanners have already made full payment, but most of them cleared 20 to 30 per cent of their payment citing the reason that they had already made significant investment in relocating their units at Savar. “So, pending bills have created a big problem for us. We don’t know how long we need to wait to get the full payment,” he quipped. He, however, said the market is showing some positive sign as the price of rawhide has increased by Tk 200 for cow and Tk 30 for goat. “We hope that the upward trend would continue as rawhides from northern, eastern and western districts will start coming to the wholesale market this week,” he added. Seeking anonymity, a member of the Bangladesh Tanners’ Association (BTA) said they purchased rawhides of the sacrificial animals at 20 to 25 per cent higher rate compared to the official rate following high preservation cost. “Going beyond that rate won’t be financially viable. The global market is also facing a downward trend. Moreover, we have got enough stock of such items collected last year,” he said. Regarding the pending bills, he said the tanners made huge volume of investment in the process to relocate their units to the Savar Tannery Estate, thereby resulting in cash crisis for many of them. “But the bills will be cleared as per commitment. There is nothing to worry about,” he added.
