Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
Slump in prices left rawhide traders distraught in different areas of the country leading to dumping of truckloads of the same during the Eid vacation.
In Dhaka, small and seasonal traders were in trouble as they lost money invested in purchase of rawhide due to the price slump. In Sylhet also, piles of rawhide were dumped for the same reason.
Seasonal traders in Chattogram left on streets unsold rawhide of around 100,000 cattle following a steep price fall, reports the bdnews24.com quoting an official.
Chattogram City Corporation workers removed the rawhide from the streets of Aturar Depot, Muradpur and Bahaddarhat on Tuesday afternoon.
Wholesalers said most of them could not buy rawhide or had to offer meagre prices as they ran out of money due to unpaid bills from tanners in Dhaka.
The seasonal traders who were able to sell rawhide claimed they suffered huge losses after buying rawhide of cattle slaughtered on Eid-ul-Azha.
"We've removed four trucks of rawhide from Bahaddarhat. There appears to be 70 trucks more at Aturar Depot and Muradpur. Around 100,000 pieces of rawhide have been destroyed," said Mobarak Ali, a ward councillor who has been assigned by the CCC to monitor the cattle waste removal work.
The workers were transporting the abandoned rawhide to the CCC's dumping ground at Bayezid Arefin Nagar.
Nazim Uddin, a seasonal trader who brought 200 pieces of rawhide from Fatikchharhi, said he paid Tk 300 for each and went from door to door to collect these, but the wholesalers were offering him Tk 50 apiece.
"None was eager to buy rawhide at even Tk 50 apiece in the afternoon. So I am leaving these on the street," he said.
Another trader from the city's Eidgah area said he invested half a million taka in rawhide trading during this Eid but was able to recover only Tk 300,000.
"I have abandoned 300 pieces as there was no buyer in the end," he said.
According to agencies, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Wednesday warned that people responsible for the rawhide price fall would be punished.
"The government will investigate to see if any syndicate is behind this situation and take legal steps," he told a post-Eid news conference at the Secretariat.
Quader, also the transport minister, said he does not have an idea about the real picture and that he learned about the matter from media reports.
"I don't know who're actually involved," he added.
Before Eid-ul-Azha, the government fixed salted cowhide and buffalo rawhide at Tk 45-50 per square feet in Dhaka and at Tk 35-40 for outside capital.
On the other hand, price of salted skin of castrated goats was fixed at Tk 18-20 per square feet while the price of salted skin un-castrated goat was fixed at Tk 13-15.
The government decided to allow export of rawhide on Tuesday night to ensure fair price as the hide of sacrificial animals was not being sold at the prices fixed by the ministry.
Quader said a group of people always try to disrupt the business atmosphere.
The Chattogram Rawhide Merchant Cooperative Association targeted collection of 550,000 rawhides this Eid, but its leaders said they could achieve only 60 per cent of the target by Tuesday evening.
Its President Abdul Kader believes rawhides of 10-15 per cent cattle sacrificed during this Eid would be destroyed this time.
Only 30 of the total 262 cattle merchants in Chattogram, including 112 members of the association, were able to buy rawhides this Eid as the tanners of Dhaka were yet to pay around Tk 500 million for rawhides sold previously, according to Kader.
He also thinks the government should have moved earlier to prevent the situation.
"The situation would not have been so bad if the government had announced the decision to allow rawhide export earlier and moved for discussion with the tanners for payment of the dues before Eid," he said.
The government on Tuesday decided to lift the bar on rawhide export for the first time but many things remained unclear such as how the move will affect domestic industries or benefit general people and seasonal traders.
The prices people get for cattle slaughtered on Eid-ul-Azha are "not reasonable" and the latest government decision aims to ensure that they get the fair price, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said.
Wholesalers and merchants welcomed the decision with the hope that they would not have to depend only on the tanners to sell rawhide.
The decision would threaten the leather, leather products, and footwear industry as rawhide export would make the raw material less available in the domestic markets, feared those involved with the trade.
Half the cattle slaughtered in Bangladesh throughout the year are sacrificed during Eid. Muslims have slaughtered around 125 million cattle this Eid, according to a government estimate.
Wholesalers buy the rawhide and skin of sacrificial animals from seasonal traders and sell these to tanners.
Seasonal rawhide traders and tanners blamed a 'syndicate' as price of cow rawhide began to drop on the evening of Eid day on Monday.
The opposition BNP alleged a ruling Awami League leader was behind the syndicate, without naming anyone.
The merchants blamed the tanners for the steep rawhide price fall, alleging dues from past years forced them to offer low prices or stop buying.
The seasonal traders in Dinajpur, the rawhide trade hub of the north, and Chattogram abandoned thousands of rawhides after being offered meagre prices or a failure to find any seller.
In this situation, the commerce ministry on Tuesday afternoon announced that the government would allow rawhide export.
Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants' Association General Secretary Tipu Sultan told bdnews24.com: "We welcome the government decision. It will benefit us."
He claimed the tanners owe them Tk 3 billion in unpaid bills and over a dozen cases were started over the issue in past three years.
"This is why we cannot invest. This is why hide price is so low this time. It will drop further if the situation lingers," he said.
The merchant leader could not say how much the wholesalers and merchants would be benefitted by the new government decision.
But he saw one positive thing: "Rawhides rotted on the streets as fair price was not ensured previously. Now the merchants will export these without waiting for the tanners."
Chattogram Rawhide Merchant Cooperative Association President Abdul Kader said the tanners of Dhaka were yet to pay around Tk 500 million for rawhides sold previously.
He thinks the government should have moved earlier to prevent the situation.
"The situation would not have been so bad if the government had announced the decision to allow rawhide export earlier and moved for discussion with the tanners for payment of the dues before Eid," he said.
Bangladesh Tanners' Association President Shaheen Ahmed denied the allegations of dues, asking: "How have they been able to continue trade if we haven't paid them?"
He admitted there have been "some" dues as 30 to 40 per cent tanneries were yet to start production after shifting to Savar from Hazaribagh in 2017.
"But that cannot be a reason to cut rawhide price," he added.
Shaheen brought a counter allegation that the rawhide merchants formed a syndicate to manipulate the market and deceive the seasonal traders.
"They will seek the government-fixed prices when they sell to us," the tanner said.
He declined to say how much the government decision would affect the tannery industry, but expressed doubt over its implementation.
"An unstable situation is ongoing over hide. And it's not so easy to export rawhide. It has never been exported," he said.
Bangladesh Finished Leather and Leather Goods Exporters Association Senior Vice-President Diljahan Bhuiyan believes the leather industry will go bust once rawhide export begins following the government decision as the industry is dependent on the domestic markets for its main raw material - rawhide.
"We've built an industry by spending tens of billions of taka, but we can operate for maximum three to four months with rawhide from the domestic markets and keep the factories closed for the rest of the year. This industry will be totally destroyed if the government permits rawhide export," he said.
Leather goods and footwear entrepreneurs cannot buy hides as they have already been suffering from a lack of funds, he said.
"We would have bought hides at least at low prices if we formed any syndicate, but we are not buying hides because we don't have any money," Bhuiyan said.
The 220 tanneries of Bangladesh process around 2.5 billion square feet hide and skin annually while 93 large and listed footwear producing firms make more than 378 million pairs.
Commerce Minister Munshi hinted at reviewing the decision when his attention was drawn to the fears of the leather industry entrepreneurs.
"Let's see what happens. We will slow down (rawhide) export if we see negative impact on the local industry," he told bdnews24.com.