Rawhide warehouses in the Dewanhat and Atura Depot areas of Chattogram city have started filling up with sacrificial hides after Eid-ul-Adha. However, seasonal traders are spending days in frustration amid falling and unstable prices.
Despite government-fixed rates for sacrificial hides, traders say the market does not reflect those prices. Many seasonal collectors claim they are forced to sell hides below their purchase cost, putting them at risk of heavy financial losses.
On Thursday traders brought raw hides to city markets from different upazilas and nearby areas using trucks, pickup vans, rickshaws and other small transport vehicles. Many waited for hours under intense heat and foul smell but failed to secure buyers at expected prices.
Market visits showed that small cowhides measuring 12 to 16 square feet were sold for Tk150 to Tk200. Medium hides of 17 to 22 square feet fetched Tk250 to Tk300. Larger hides above 23 square feet sold for Tk350 to Tk400 at most.
Seasonal traders said they had collected hides from households and village markets at higher prices.
Abdul Haque, a trader from Chandgaon who collected around 400 hides, said he bought each hide for Tk100 to Tk250, excluding salt, transport and labour costs.
He said, “Although the government announced fixed prices, shop owners are not even paying half of that amount. We have to bear the cost of salt, transport and labour, yet we are still not getting fair prices. It has become extremely difficult to continue this business.”
Another trader, Main Uddin, who collected hides from village markets, expressed similar concerns.
“I bought large hides from villages for around Tk350 each. On top of that there are transport and labour costs. But after bringing them here, dealers are offering only Tk150 to Tk200. How can we make any profit this way?” he said.
Dealers, however, rejected allegations of unfair pricing. They blamed poor preservation by seasonal traders for the lower rates.
Md Jasim Uddin, a dealer at Atura Depot, said many hides were not properly preserved in time.
“If salt is not applied quickly, the hides start deteriorating. Later, if tanneries find defects, we have to bear the responsibility. That is why prices are being determined based on quality,” he said.
Raw Hide Dealers’ Association President Md Muslim Uddin said hide collection in Chattogram has been satisfactory this year.
“So far, nearly one lakh hides have been collected and the number is expected to rise further,” he told TIMES of Bangladesh. “Every year field-level traders complain about low prices. This is not new. Prices are mainly fixed according to the size and quality of the hides.
Good-quality hides are being purchased for Tk250 to Tk350.”
He added that steps have been taken to ensure proper salting and preservation to prevent damage caused by extreme heat.
Veteran leather traders in Chattogram said the same situation repeats every Eid season. They said seasonal traders enter the market expecting profit but many return with losses due to unstable pricing.
They believe the failure to properly implement government-fixed prices at field level, along with the lack of modern preservation and storage systems, continues to create instability in the country’s sacrificial leather sector.
