Gaibandha rawhide market fears losses

Traders wait for customers at Palashbari rawhide market in Gaibandha. The largest rawhide market in the north marks a huge fall in trading due to low prices of animal hides.Photo: STAR

A rawhide market in Palashbari upazila of Gaibandha is passing slack days after the Eid-ul-Azha, which seems unusual after the festival.
The situation worsened as traders lost their interest to purchase rawhide due to a fall in hide prices on the international market.
The slump is caused by a fall in demand for rawhide as the global financial crisis dampened sales of leather products on the international market, trader said.
Wholesalers are worried about their stock as they are unsure about at what rates tanners would buy rawhide.
The Palashbari hide market is the largest in the Rangpur-Dinajpur-Bogra region and sits twice a week. Most of the hides come to the market from Gaibandha, Bogra, Joypurhat, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram.
"Every year, a huge quantity of rawhide fills the market after the Eid-ul-Azha," said Aftab Mollah, a trader.
Last year, cowhide was sold at Tk 1,200-Tk 2,200 apiece, buffalo-hide at Tk 1,800-Tk 2,000 and goatskin at Tk 150-Tk 260, Mollah said.
This year, cowhide prices went down to Tk 700-Tk 1,200 apiece, buffalo-hide to Tk 800-Tk 1,200 and goatskin to Tk90-Tk 150.
"Around 5,000 pieces of rawhide traded on the last trading day in Palashbari, which is much lower than the previous years," said Abdul Wahed Faruqee, a leaseholder of the market.
"However, we expect to supply around 50,000 pieces of rawhide in the coming days," he said.
"We dispatched 10 truckloads of rawhide before the Eid festival. But this year very few trading took place at the hide market,” said a representative of Reliance Tannery preferring anonymity.
“We are now procuring hide amid a risk of incurring huge losses.”
“Small hide traders will face huge losses this year due to low prices,” said Abdus Satter, a local trader.