Around 20 to 22 such blacksmith shops are found in Karwan Bazar Kamakar shed. In these shops, assortments of tools made of iron or steel are neatly put on display for prospective customers.

Abul Majid, a blacksmith there, said the number of blacksmiths in the city has gone up significantly over the past few years.

"Dhaka city never had this many blacksmiths. There were only a handful of blacksmiths in one particular neighbourhood before. Now, you can find plenty of blacksmith shops there." Majid said.

"Not too long ago, it was difficult to find one blacksmith shop even in rural areas. Whereas, there are around four to five hundred blacksmiths doing business in the city now," he added.

Moazzem Karmakar, a blacksmith in the same market, said they had been doing business with a reputation for decades now, but the main objective of the new blacksmiths are to do cutthroat business.

"I have been in this business for over two decades now. I take my work as my creed, but this new breed of unskilled blacksmiths are here for the money only," said Karmakar.

Karmakar told this correspondent that despite the sharp rise in the price of iron, they did not raise the prices of their finished products.

Even though iron price has gone up from Tk 35 to Tk 40 each kg over the last few months, steep competition are forcing them to sell their finished products at previous rates -- after adding labour and other costs of course, Karmakar explained.

Tools made by blacksmiths now sell at around Tk 200 a kg, he added.

According to blacksmiths, demand for their products is the highest during Eid-ul-Azha and it is quite low throughout the rest of the year.