Despite price fiasco, Posta meets hide target

The artificial crisis and the resultant high price of salt made it difficult for seasonal traders to preserve the rawhides this Eid-ul-Azha, they have claimed. However, the wholesale merchants at Posta—the country’s largest salted skin collection centre—said their target was met on the first day. They, too, faced trouble processing the raw skins due to the sudden rise in salt prices. Tanners and leather goods traders are yet to start buying the hides and skins, said general secretary of Bangladesh Tanners’ Association (BTA), Md Shakhawat Ullah. The cost of processing rawhide has almost doubled compared with last year. “The cost has risen by at least Tk. 300 per skin,” he added.
Regarding the smuggling of skins, Md Shakhawat Ullah said there was no scope for that this year as the home ministry has already taken measures. He added that two to three months would pass before the processed skin would come to their storage from the rawhide merchants of Posta.
According to leather traders, the preservation cost has doubled this year compared with last year. A 74-kg bag of salt costs Tk. 1,200–1,300 this year, while it was only Tk. 500 last year. On the other hand, the seasonal traders have lost heavily due to low prices of rawhide.
A week before Eid, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed had given the traders 48 hours to fix the prices. “It (price) should be realistic so that people get a fair price while the traders in the leather industry do not count losses,” the minister had said.
He had warned that the government would not allow ‘syndicates’ after retailers had complained that they suffered losses on Eid-ul-Azha every year.
Accordingly, the leather goods traders and tanners had jointly declared the prices of hides and skins last Friday. Bangladesh Finished Leather and Footwear Exporters’ Association president Mohiuddin Ahmed Mahin had announced the prices at a press conference in Dhaka.
They had declared that cowhide would be bought at Tk. 50 per sq ft in Dhaka and Tk. 40 in the rest of the county this year. This was slightly lower compared with last year’s rate. The price of goatskin was set at Tk. 20 per sq ft. For the ‘bakra’ goats, the price was Tk. 15. Last year, the price of cowhide was Tk. 50–55 per sq ft in Dhaka and Tk. 40–45 elsewhere. The price of goatskin was Tk. 20–22 per sq ft; for ‘bakra’ goat, it was Tk. 15–17; and for buffalo hide, it was Tk. 35–40. BTA chairman Shaheen Ahmed said a 35 per cent fall in the international market over the last year has pushed the prices down. According to the BTA, Bangladesh processes around 220 million square foot of leather every year, half of which is sourced during Eid-ul-Azha, when millions of animals are slaughtered.

 

Despite price fiasco, Posta meets hide target

The artificial crisis and the resultant high price of salt made it difficult for seasonal traders to preserve the rawhides this Eid-ul-Azha, they have claimed. However, the wholesale merchants at Postathe countrys largest salted skin collection centresaid their target was met on the first day. They, too, faced trouble processing the raw skins due to the sudden rise in salt prices. Tanners and leather goods traders are yet to start buying the hides and skins, said general secretary of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), Md Shakhawat Ullah. The cost of processing rawhide has almost doubled compared with last year. The cost has risen by at least Tk. 300 per skin, he added. Regarding the smuggling of skins, Md Shakhawat Ullah said there was no scope for that this year as the home ministry has already taken measures. He added that two to three months would pass before the processed skin would come to their storage from the rawhide merchants of Posta. According to leather traders, the preservation cost has doubled this year compared with last year. A 74-kg bag of salt costs Tk. 1,2001,300 this year, while it was only Tk. 500 last year. On the other hand, the seasonal traders have lost heavily due to low prices of rawhide. A week before Eid, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed had given the traders 48 hours to fix the prices. It (price) should be realistic so that people get a fair price while the traders in the leather industry do not count losses, the minister had said. He had warned that the government would not allow syndicates after retailers had complained that they suffered losses on Eid-ul-Azha every year. Accordingly, the leather goods traders and tanners had jointly declared the prices of hides and skins last Friday. Bangladesh Finished Leather and Footwear Exporters Association president Mohiuddin Ahmed Mahin had announced the prices at a press conference in Dhaka. They had declared that cowhide would be bought at Tk. 50 per sq ft in Dhaka and Tk. 40 in the rest of the county this year. This was slightly lower compared with last years rate. The price of goatskin was set at Tk. 20 per sq ft. For the bakra goats, the price was Tk. 15. Last year, the price of cowhide was Tk. 5055 per sq ft in Dhaka and Tk. 4045 elsewhere. The price of goatskin was Tk. 2022 per sq ft; for bakra goat, it was Tk. 1517; and for buffalo hide, it was Tk. 3540. BTA chairman Shaheen Ahmed said a 35 per cent fall in the international market over the last year has pushed the prices down. According to the BTA, Bangladesh processes around 220 million square foot of leather every year, half of which is sourced during Eid-ul-Azha, when millions of animals are slaughtered.