Rawhide traders count losses as prices remain unstable

The seasonal leather trade at the Science Lab area in the capital gathered pace during Eid-ul-Azha, but sharp price volatility left many small traders facing losses.

Traders who bought rawhides from Savar and nearby areas for Tk600 to Tk700 apiece said buyers at Science Lab were offering no more than Tk500, forcing many to sell below cost.

Ratan Bepari and Mohammad Russell said they purchased hides from a dairy farm in Savar at prices ranging between Tk600 and Tk700 per piece before bringing them to Science Lab for resale. However, buyers there offered only Tk500 per hide.

“We are incurring losses. A syndicate has driven down prices,” Ratan said. 

“We bought hides for up to Tk700, but buyers here are asking us to sell for Tk500. I have been waiting for more than an hour and still cannot sell at a profit,” he added at around 4:30pm.

A visit to the market showed hides being sold at Tk500, Tk550, Tk600, Tk650 and, at most, Tk700 per piece depending on size and quality.

Around 20 trading points were operating in the Science Lab area, where hides were being transported by pickup vans, autorickshaws, rickshaws and cargo vans before being piled up at temporary warehouses.

Despite rising supply, traders said prices showed no signs of improvement.

“All buyers are quoting the same rate in a coordinated way. We urge the government to break this syndicate,” Mohammad Russell said.
Former general secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners Association Sakhawat Ullah said traders collecting raw hides had been advised to sell them quickly to avoid deterioration.

“Hides from sacrificial animals start decomposing from the evening after slaughter. Bacteria spread rapidly, reducing both quality and price,” he said.

He added that tannery owners planned to buy salted hides at government-fixed rates and were also purchasing some raw hides to help stabilise the market.

According to the latest government rates, salted cowhide prices in Dhaka have been fixed at Tk62 to Tk67 per square foot this year, compared with Tk60 to Tk65 last year. Outside Dhaka, the rate has been set at Tk57 to Tk62 per square foot.

For goatskins, salted hides of male goats have been priced at Tk25 to Tk30 per square foot, while female goatskins have been fixed at Tk22 to Tk25.

Seasonal traders said some markets were trading small cowhides at Tk500 to Tk550, while larger hides were selling for Tk600 to Tk750.

Some traders managed marginal profits, but many said they were suffering losses.

Zakir Hossain Joy said he bought 20 hides from a madrasa in Mohammadpur and sold them with a profit margin of only Tk50 to Tk100 each. “I sold large cowhides for Tk700 apiece,” he said.

Market insiders believe oversupply and lower-than-expected demand from tanneries have created downward pressure on prices, leaving seasonal traders uncertain and frustrated.