Rawhide prices fall short of govt benchmark

Despite a government-set increase in rawhide prices this Eid-ul-Azha, sellers in Dhaka said today that they were once again forced to sell hides at rates far below the official benchmark.

Seasonal rawhide traders at Dhaka's Shewrapara, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Kalabagan and Science Lab areas claimed that although the government increased prices, they received no assurance from tannery owners that hides would be purchased at those rates.

They said tannery owners had quoted lower prices compared to last year, prompting seasonal traders to buy hides at reduced rates as well.

However, tannery owners claimed prices had not fallen compared to last year and had instead increased by Tk 50 to Tk 60 per piece.

Many sellers alleged they received Tk 150 to Tk 200 less per hide than last year. Traders also showed little interest in purchasing goat hides, as seen in previous years.

On the ground, most raw cowhides were selling for Tk 500 to Tk 650 this year, compared with Tk 700 to Tk 800 for similar hides last year.

The government this year fixed the prices of rawhide generated during Eid-ul-Azha, increasing the price of salted cowhide in Dhaka by Tk 2 per square foot from last year.

The price of salted cowhide in Dhaka has been set at Tk 62 to Tk 67 per square foot, up from Tk 60 to Tk 65 last year.

The price of salted goat skin has been fixed at Tk 25 to Tk 30 per square foot, while she-goat skin has been set at Tk 22 to Tk 25 per square foot.

Accordingly, a small salted hide may fetch between Tk 990 and Tk 1,200. A medium-sized salted cowhide is expected to fetch Tk 1,300 to Tk 1,850, while a large salted cowhide may range from Tk 1,900 to Tk 2,600.

Usually, the hide of a large cow measures 31 to 40 square feet, a medium-sized cowhide measures 21 to 30 square feet, and a small cowhide measures 16 to 20 square feet.

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Photo: Sukanta Halder/Star

In Mohammadpur's Sher Shah Suri Road area, seasonal trader Mohammad Shwapon said he was buying small raw hides at Tk 450 each, medium-sized hides at Tk 500 to Tk 550, and large hides at Tk 600 to Tk 650.

By 1:20pm, he had already purchased 30 raw hides and set a target of buying 300 pieces.

Abid Hossain Hanif, another seasonal trader from the Science Lab area, said he bought small raw hides at Tk 400 to Tk 450, medium ones at Tk 500, and large ones at Tk 550 to Tk 600.

He said prices were somewhat lower compared to last year because traders were purchasing hides at the rates offered by tannery owners.

Mohammad Yaseen, a seasonal trader from the Dhanmondi area, said goat skins had almost no market value.

He added that people bringing cowhides to sell were often paid only Tk 5 to Tk 10 per piece and, in some cases, the hides were taken without payment.

Md Shakawat Ullah, Senior Vice Chairman of the Bangladesh Tanners Association, claimed that rawhide prices had not decreased this year and were instead Tk 20 to Tk 50 higher than last year.

"I have personally purchased hides at prices ranging from Tk 650 to Tk 950," he said.

To help stabilise the rawhide market in the capital, tanneries were directly procuring raw hides, he added.

He also said hide trading had not picked up significantly as of the afternoon, which might have led some sellers to receive lower prices. Prices could rise further by the evening, he added.

Tannery owners have set a target of collecting 75 lakh to 80 lakh sacrificial animal hides this year. Of the total, they aim to directly purchase around 80 percent of the hides in Dhaka.

Last year, they directly bought around 750,000 to 800,000 hides in the capital.