Seasonal rawhide traders fear loss as wholesalers wait for prices to drop in Dhaka

Seasonal rawhide traders fear losses after the Eid-ul-Azha this year as the wholesalers in Dhaka are reportedly waiting for the prices to drop.

Usually, the wholesalers get busy in the afternoon on the Eid day to collect rawhide of slaughtered cattle from the seasonal traders. But it was different on Wednesday.

Many seasonal traders, most of whom are officials of madrasas, were waiting for the wholesalers as the day was wearing on.

The seasonal traders seek to sell the rawhide as early as possible because they do not preserve those with salt.

Tanners generally collect the hide, preserved by the wholesalers who have taken the strategy of moving slow to get the prices drop, seasonal traders alleged.    

The government has lowered the price of Eid cowhide to Tk 45 to 50 per square foot in Dhaka and Tk 35 to 40 outside the capital this year from up to Tk 55 of last year.

The price of goat hide is fixed from Tk 13 to 20 per square foot.

Moslem Uddin, a seasonal trader, brought 12 cowhides to Raysaheb Bazar from Wari.

He bought the hides for Tk 800 to Tk 900 per piece but the wholesalers were not offering more than Tk 1,000.

He said his entire day’s labour would go to waste and he would even have to pay the transport costs from his own pocket if the rate did not go up.

Syed Iqbal, a wholesaler at Raysaheb Bazar, said they were buying cowhides for Tk 900 to Tk 1,200.

“The tanners have asked not to pay more than Tk 35 per square foot, but we are giving even Tk 50 in some cases,” he said, adding that he bought 10 pieces of hide for Tk 1,200 apiece some time ago.

Seasonal trader Zahir Uddin, concerned about the possible loss, was waiting for wholesalers with 120 cowhides at Segunbagicha at 5pm.

“I couldn’t gather the courage to buy more even though there are more hides left, because no wholesaler has even asked me about the price,” he said. 

The authorities of Baitul Mahfuz Mosque at Mohakhali said in the evening that they collected several hundred hides from donors, but no-one came to buy those, meaning they had no idea about the price they would get.