Smooth rawhide collection at Posta this Eid

Rawhide traders at Posta in Old Dhaka's Lalbagh area have reported a relatively smooth and disciplined collection of sacrificial animal hides during this year's Eid-ul-Adha, resulting in fewer spoiled hides arriving at the wholesale depots.

According to traders, the number of damaged rawhides was significantly lower than last year. They credit this improvement to the government's free distribution of salt in large volumes and the formation of a high-level committee to oversee rawhide management.

A visit to the Posta rawhide hub yesterday showed salted hides neatly stacked. Traders said most of the hides brought in – except for spoiled ones – were successfully sold to tanneries.

Posta is one of the country's largest rawhide processing hubs. This year, large and medium cowhides sold for Tk700-900, while smaller or slightly lower-quality hides were sold for Tk600-650.

Tipu Sultan, general secretary of the Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchant Association, told TBS the environment at Posta this year was much cleaner and more organised. "We purchased all hides except the spoiled ones," he said.

He noted that around 70,000 to 75,000 pieces of rawhide were collected from Posta's 40 wholesale depots – about 15% to 20% lower than last year.

Meanwhile, tannery owners in Savar have started buying salted hides from within the city, and will begin purchasing hides from outside Dhaka in about a week.

Tanners aim to collect 80-85 lakh hides this year

This reporter met Shakhawat Ullah, senior vice chairman of the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), at Posta yesterday. Speaking to TBS, he said, "We have directly collected around 3.87 lakh pieces of rawhide. From today [Wednesday], we will begin purchasing salted hides from within Dhaka. We plan to complete the Dhaka collection within a week and will start buying hides from outside Dhaka after that. We will continue collecting salted hides for the next two to two and a half months."

He added, "This year, our initial target was to collect about one crore pieces of hide, but that may not be achieved. We expect to collect around 80 to 85 lakh pieces instead."

Shakhawat also noted that those who preserved the hides properly with salt will receive the government-set prices, while those who delayed salting and spoiled the hides will be deprived of fair prices.

According to traders, Bangladesh has been unable to obtain Leather Working Group (LWG) certification due to the lack of a permanent solid waste management system in the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate in Hemayetpur. 

This shortcoming continues to restrict export growth in the leather sector. According to BTA sources, there are currently 142 tanneries in operation within the industrial estate.

Shakhawat Ullah said, "Due to the absence of a solid waste management system in the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate, the leather sector is in distress. Our investments – worth nearly Tk10,000 crore – in the estate are now at risk. The government must give this issue more attention."

According to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh earned $1.04 billion from leather exports in FY2023-24. In the first 11 months of FY2024-25, exports have already surpassed that figure, reaching $1.06 billion.

Data from the Department of Livestock Services shows that 91,36,734 animals were sacrificed during this Eid. This includes over 47 lakh cows/buffaloes, over 44 lakh goats/sheep, and nearly 1000 other animals.

The government this year set the price of salted large cowhides at Tk60-65 per square foot in Dhaka and Tk55-60 outside Dhaka. The price for small cowhides was set at Tk1,350 in Dhaka and Tk1,150 outside Dhaka. Salted goat hides were priced at Tk22-27 per sq-ft, and Tk20-22 for sheep hides.

Govt steps prevented rawhide spoilage

Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin said the government distributed nearly 750,000 maunds of salt free of cost to madrasas and orphanages this year to support rawhide preservation.

Additionally, a 17-member high-level committee, headed by the commerce adviser, was formed to ensure fair pricing and effective management of sacrificial hides. Traders say these initiatives helped improve preservation significantly.

To avoid spoilage, the government banned the transport of rawhide to Dhaka from other districts for 10 days from Eid, as hides often get damaged due to long traffic delays.

BTA Chairman Md Shaheen Ahamed told TBS that the formation of the high-level committee played a key role in improving the salting process. 

He suggested forming a similar committee to address ongoing solid and liquid waste management challenges at the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate, where no permanent solid waste system exists.

Despite these measures, complaints emerged that hides were not sold at government-fixed prices in some areas.

In response, the commerce adviser explained: "On Eid day, a massive supply of hides enters the market at once, which naturally drives prices down. Anticipating this, we supplied salt to madrasas across the country so they could preserve and store hides for a few days, which would reduce supply pressure and help fetch better prices. While this wasn't done everywhere, cowhide prices were still better this year than in recent years."