Seasonal rawhide traders left in limbo
Like in other districts, small-scale and seasonal traders in Tangail are in trouble with the rawhides they purchased during Eid due to poor response from merchants.
Four days past the festival, the small traders could not even get the prices they had paid to buy the rawhides.
The traders are now dousing the rawhides with salt to preserve them for a couple of days in hopes that merchants or tanners will offer better prices to make bulk purchases.
There are 35 wholesale markets in total: 15 in Tangail town, 14 in Balla and six in Elenga in Kalihati upazila.
The poor response was noticed at Tangail's biggest weekly rawhide market at Pakutia in Ghatail upazila yesterday.
Merchants from nearby Tangail, Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrokona and Sirajganj districts come here to buy and sell rawhides.
However, no big wholesaler or representative from any of the tanneries was seen at the market.
The seasonal traders bought rawhides of cows and buffaloes at Tk 500 to Tk 900 per piece and that of goats at Tk 30 to Tk 50.
Humayun Kabir, a trader in Elenga, said he bought 400 pieces of cow hides and 550 pieces of goat hides and brought them to the market. “However, no wholesaler has come yet to check them out,” he said.
“If I cannot sell them in this market, I will have to sell them to the stores or tanneries in Dhaka after preliminary processing with salt and drying in sunlight,” he said.
Trader Jalal Miah of Tangail town said he has sold 40 cow hides and 30 goat hides to a trader at almost the same prices he paid for them.
Shuvas Rishi of Jhinaigati and Robi Rishi in Nalitabari in Sherpur district said they altogether bought 230 pieces cow hides and took them to the market.
They sold 100 small-sized hides, which had faults, at the same rate they had paid while buying them. They, however, were yet to sell the large, good quality hides as the offers from the buyers were not up to their expectations.
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