Bangladesh occupies only 0.5% of $244b global market

Bangladesh shares only 0.5 per cent of the $244 billion global market of rawhide production despite being one of the top countries in domestic animal farming, according to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC).

The price of rawhide is also comparatively cheap in the domestic market, the commission said. Currently, per sqft wet blue leather costs Tk100-Tk150 in the global market which is available in Bangladesh at only Tk60-Tk90.

BTTC released the data during a public hearing on Tuesday. Chairman of the commission Mahfuza Akhtar presided over the event where its Deputy Chief Md Mahmudul Hasan presented the keynote essay which identified at least seven hitches for the rawhide industry.

Excessive supply and reluctance in collecting the rawhides during the Eid-ul-Azha festival hinders the processing of a large portion of the untanned hide, according to the keynote essay.

In the 2013-14 fiscal year (FY14), Bangladesh exported untanned and tanned leather worth over $500 million, which slipped to nearly $150 million in FY22. Meanwhile, finished leather import hiked $234.49 million in FY22 from $162.95 in FY21.

The commission, in its essay, identified 2017 as the starting point of the rawhide industry’s decline. It said, the shifting of tannery in the Savar Leather Industrial City during that time caused a liquidation crisis in the industry, which led to further problems.

The commission also identified the decline in the demand for leather and leather-made goods in the current global situation as a catalyst for the weakening of the domestic rawhide industry. Also, the rise in demand of synthetic and fabric made products as alternatives to leather products have further exacerbated the fall of the industry.

Bangladeshi leather is hardly used to make branded export products due to the lack of Leather Working Group certification, said the keynote essay.

Increasing dependency on China for crust and finished rawhide export, failing to increase the use of locally produced rawhide and gradual rise of unsold leather are also to blame for the drastic decline in rawhide exports.

According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations in 2017, Bangladesh progressed successively in producing goat, meat and milk production in the global indicator. India and China hold the top place in these sectors while Bangladesh grabbed second place in producing goat milk and fourth place in goat and meat production. The country is in the 12th position for producing domestic animals including cattle, goats, buffalo and sheep.

Everyone on consumers’ level will benefit if the authorities can ensure a rational price of rawhide, BTTC Chairman Mahfuza Akhtar said on the occasion.

She also stressed on expanding rawhide and leather-made products exports to tackle challenges in the post-LDC (Least Developed Country) era.

Also speaking on the occasion, AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection, said BTTC will assist to ensure prices of rawhide considering the opinions placed during the public hearing.