About 3 lakh 20 thousand rawhides of sacrificial animals, including cows, goats and buffaloes, were collected by traders in Chattogram in last two days till Saturday afternoon.
Although the rawhide traders and leaders were expected to collect about 3.5 lakh pieces of rawhides, they have expressed doubt over the collection of the rest of rawhides.
The traders claimed that the Gausia committee, a volunteer organisation, was also collecting rawhides as they (traders) could not meet the target. This organisation has collected more than one lakh pieces of rawhides from different areas in Chattogram district for free. These rawhides have not yet been sold as the traders were reluctant to collect them.
People involved with the leather sector said two years ago, thousands of rawhides were buried under ground due to reluctance of leather traders. The leather market in Chattogram was not booming due to the collection of rawhides by the Gausia Committee in the last two years, they claimed.
President of Greater Chattogram Rawhide Merchants Association Muslim Uddin said that until Saturday afternoon, about 3 lakh 19 thousand pieces of cow, buffalo and goat hides have been collected from different areas of Chattogram. “It was not possible to meet our hide collection target.”
He also said, “One of the committee members sold 21,000 rawhides to our traders. They did not tell us whether they would sell the rest of the hides to us or sell it to Dhaka traders. We bought the rawhides at Tk 250 to Tk 500 per piece.”
According to the decision taken by the Ministry of Commerce, the government has fixed the price of salted rawhide at Tk 50 to Tk 55 per square foot in the capital and Tk 45 to Tk 48 outside Dhaka this year. And salted he-goat hide was priced at Tk 18 to Tk 20 per square feet and she-goat hide at Tk 12 to Tk 14 per square feet.
Several members of Rawhide Merchants Association said this year the rawhide collection target would not be achieved as hides could enter the city from other parts of the district and upazilas. Besides, many madrasahs could collect rawhides as per their target.
Many people in the district and upazila level preserved the rawhides with salt, but they have yet to send them to the traders. The demand for cow and buffalo hides is high.
According to Chattogram Livestock office, last year 8,13,050 animals were sacrificed in the city while 7,42,455 animals were sacrificed in 2021.
In the current year, the target set for sacrificial animals was 8,79,713, but later it was reduced to 8,74,000. However, rawhide traders believe that the number of animals sacrificed this year was not more than 7,00,000.
