The tannery owners have demanded to fix raw hide prices at lower rates than last year citing a price fall in international market. The made the demand during a meeting with the senior commerce secretary on Sunday. The government is scheduled to fix and announce this year’s rawhide prices on Wednesday after consulting with the relevant stakeholders. Many sector insiders fear that a huge volume of rawhide will be smuggled to the neighboring countries if the prices are not being fixed fairly. The government fixes rawhide prices in consultation with the tannery owners before the Eid-ul-Azha, one of the country’s largest religious festivals. Eid-ul-Azha contributes the largest portion of the country’s rawhide production. Meanwhile, a delay in fixing the rawhide prices this year has created concerns among the small traders. President of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) Md Shahin Ahmed, Secretary General of Bangladesh Finished Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association Md Joinal Abedin, Advisor to the Dhaka Metropolitan Meat Traders Robiul Alam represented the tannery owners at the meeting with the senior commerce secretary at his office. During the meeting, the expressed concern over the declining price of rawhide in the international market and urged the commerce secretary to consider the international market while fixing rawhide prices ahead of Eid. “Prices of rawhide should be fixed rationally so that both traders and the tanners get the fair price,” BTA president Shahin Ahmed told the meeting. “Prices of rawhide have dropped by around 30 percent in the international market, which will affect the country’s leather sector,” he said. The tanneries altogether receive around 22 crore sft of rawhide every year. Around 65 to 75 lakh pieces of rawhide are collected during the Eid-ul-Azha on an average.
