Merchants start selling rawhide

Merchants have already started selling rawhide from animals sacrificed during Eid-ul-Adha as per the government directive.

They began selling the rawhide from Monday morning and it would continue for the next three months, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants’ Association (BHSMA) Tipu Sultan told The Business Standard.

“Hopefully we will be able to sell all rawhides within this week and the rest of the rawhides will be sold within the next three months,” he added.

Earlier on August 17, the association made an announcement that they would not resume trade with the tanners until the latter pay the outstanding dues.

But the merchants took a u-turn on its decision just a day after following a tripartite meeting at the Commerce Ministry on Sunday where they decided to resume selling rawhide from Monday. 

This year, the merchants are expecting to collect 5 lakh rawhides from the capital and around 1.10 crore from rest of the country, said Tipu Sultan.

“We used to do business based on the relationship between merchants and tanners; this year, the association took a stance to sell rawhides for at least 50 percent advance payment,” said the BHSMA general secretary.

But they are also selling rawhides on credit depending on the professional relationship with individual tanners, said Tipu Sultan.

The association’s President Delwar Hossain said some tannery owners have not paid their outstanding dues to rawhide merchants since 2012 amounting to around Tk 400 crore till date. 

“Of the total, Tk 150 core owed to rawhide merchants in the capital alone,” he added. 

He said they were looking forward to a meeting with the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) on next Thursday to resolve the crisis.

As per the decision taken at Commerce Ministry meeting on Sunday, FBCCBI will act as a mediator between the two parties over the dues.

The Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) General Secretary Shakawat Ullah said tanners began buying rawhide from merchants at Posta in the capital Monday. 

“Usually, they start buying rawhide 10 to 15 days after Eid-ul-Adha. This year, they have planned to start buying the rawhide from August 20, but the tanners started from August 17 following a rumour that rawhide was thrown away amid a poor demand,” he added.

The country’s rawhide business is in disarray this year due to the fall of rawhide prices during Eid-ul-Adha.

Rawhide traders and tanners blame each other for the damage done to rawhides.

Thousands of rawhides were dumped, the highest in a decade, while a large quantity of valuable rawhides rotted across the country. 

Earlier, the government fixed the price of rawhide -- per square foot cowhide price for Dhaka was fixed Tk45-50 while Tk35-40 for the rest of the country. 

Besides, the price of male goat hide was fixed Tk18-20 while female goat Tk13-15.