Rawhide traders get ready for Eid

Staff Correspondent:  Bangladesh will celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha on August 22.   Eid-ul-Azha, translated as the 'festival of sacrifice' is one of the most auspicious festivals in the Islamic calendar. It is the time when almost half of the raw animal hides processed throughout the year, is collected.

Like the previous years, rawhide traders and tannery owners in Bangladesh have taken preparations to collect and process animal hides.

The government has already declared the prices of rawhides of sacrificial animals ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha, fixing the highest price at Tk 50 per square foot for cowhides and Tk 20 for goat skin.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed announced the prices of rawhides after a meeting with leather sector stakeholders at his secretariat office in the city.

Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters’ Association (BFLLFEA), Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), and Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants Association leaders were present at the meeting.

As per the government decision, tanners will buy per square foot salted cowhide and buffalo rawhide at Tk 45-50 in Dhaka and at Tk 35-40 for outside capital. The price of salted skin of goats across the country has been fixed at Tk 18-20 per square foot while price of salted skin un-castrated goat has been fixed at Tk 13-15.

The government has decreased the rawhide price this year by Tk 5 on cowhides and Tk 2 on goat skin.

Last year, tanners collected cowhide at Tk 50-55 in Dhaka and 40-45 from outside of Dhaka while they collected got skin at Tk 20-22.

When asked about lowering the price, the Commerce Minister said that two factors have been taken into consideration for fixing the raw hide price during the Eid-Ul-Adza. First, the demand of rawhides in international market is little bit lower and secondly the Savar leather estate is not ready yet fully for processing the rawhide, the minister explained.

Leather sector is going through a transition period during the last couple of years and the government is trying to stand beside the business community of this thriving sector, he added.



risingbd/Dhaka/Aug 16, 2018/Nasir/Mukul