Many seasonal traders failed to receive expected prices for sacrificial animal hides this year due to spoilage and reduced quality, largely caused by delayed salting and lack of experience, said Adilur Rahman Khan, Adviser to the Ministry of Industries.
He made these remarks on Monday during a discussion meeting with tannery owners at the BSCIC Tannery Industrial Estate in Hemayetpur, Savar, following an inspection of the leather processing facilities.
“In many cases, people applied salt too late, which impacted the quality of the hides. As a result, prices dropped,” the adviser said in response to ongoing blame-shifting between wholesalers and seasonal traders over the fall in leather prices.
So far, 378,000 pieces of rawhide have arrived at the tannery estate, while another 750,000 pieces are currently in Dhaka and expected to enter factories soon, according to Rahman.
Highlighting the government’s proactive steps, he said, “The government supplied 30,000 metric tons of salt this year to ensure hides were properly preserved and prices remained stable. Still, due to inexperience, some hides were damaged, though the overall number is relatively low.”
He emphasized the importance of timing when salting raw hides: “There is a specific timeframe within which salt must be applied. When that is missed, the hide quality suffers, and so does its market value.”
Rahman also warned that around 30% of hides could be at risk of damage this year due to the spread of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle.
In addition, he noted that the government is actively working to modernize the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) in the tannery estate to improve environmental standards and industry sustainability.
Following the meeting, the adviser visited the rawhide storage and processing section of Dhaka Hide & Skinners Ltd. The visit was attended by Abdur Rashid Bhuiyan, Chief Adviser of the Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods & Footwear Exporters Association, Shahin Ahmed, President of the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), and other industry leaders.