Traders pin hopes on better zakat sales

Traders sort lungis as per different prices of the product at Islampur in Dhaka. Photo: Amran Hossain

Wholesale cloth traders in the city are eyeing a booming business ahead of the Eid expecting an increased sale of zakat (give away) clothes that solvent Muslims hand to the poor during the Eid festival.
Traders said the prices of zakat clothes -- mostly saris and lungis -- declined by 20 percent on average apiece in last one week compared to the previous weeks.
“We expect to sell around 12,000 pieces of lungis and over 8,000 pieces of saris a day in the next 10 days due to a price fall of yarn in the market,” said Mohammad Abdul Noor, owner of Gold Cloth Store in Islampur that sells zakat items.
He hopes his sales will reach at almost Tk 6 lakh a day during the next couple of days of Ramadan and will get a boost ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Zakat is an Islamic tradition of providing welfare contribution to the poor and the deprived people. Rich and upper middle class people who own property and sizeable incomes practise this Islamic tradition of charity, giving out a certain portion of their wealth in the form of cash or clothing to the poor.
Noor, who has been in the clothing business for the last two decades, said he sells each single colour cheap handloom sari for Tk 300, which was sold at Tk 350 in the beginning of the month of Ramadan.
The price of low-cost lungis is now Tk 90 per piece, down from Tk 110 two weeks ago, he added.
Jahangir Hossain, who also sells zakat items, is upbeat on the sales prospect due to the fall of cotton price. He also expects to make around Tk 4 lakh in daily sales in the last two weeks of Ramadan, a 25 percent higher sales target than last season.
Traders say people usually start buying zakat items after the 20th Ramadan. “So, it's the peak time for zakat clothing sales.”
Monjur-ul-Alam, a businessman who lives at Badda in the capital, said he will distribute over 500 pieces of shirts, saris and lungis among the poor in his village in Nilphamari. His family always distributes the clothes ahead of the festival.
Mohammad Kabir Hossain, who came to the market for buying Jakat clothing, said the prices of lungis have come down a bit compared to the prices of a couple of weeks back. “But the prices are still higher than last year.”
“The traders are now selling medium quality lungis at Tk 150 apiece, an almost same price of last Eid-ul-Fitr,” says Hossain, who always distributes clothes among the poor in his village Gazaria in Munshiganj ahead of the Eid festival.
The wholesale traders also fear the prices of lungis may go down further due to a price fall of cotton. So they suggested retail traders to clear their stock of lungis before the Eid.
The average cost of imported cotton was $2.20 a pound before the month of April when the white fibre saw its highest price at $2.52 per pound. Now, the fibre is priced at $1 to $1.3 a pound in the international market.

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