Sales of cattle up in city mkts

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Jasim Uddin Haroon
Sales of sacrificial animals in the city's permanent and makeshift cattle markets increased Sunday with the Eid-ul-Azha festival knocking at the door.
Traders said the sales are not satisfactory, as they expected more on Sunday. The presence of customers was also thin in the city's twelve markets, they added.
They, however, said Sunday was the highest-selling day since the set up of the makeshift markets in the city on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.
"This is not good sale, it is yet to gain momentum, we don't know why the sale is poor this time," a director at Gabtoli cattle market told the FE Sunday.
"We expect to sell around 30,000 cattle Sunday, but the sale will be around 16,000-17,000, he added.
He said the traders are selling their animals with minimum profit, as many of them are panicked following small volume of sales over the past few days.
He also said no fresh arrival of animals was witnessed at Gabtoli market on Sunday, adding: "The market has around 100,000 cattle as of Sunday."
A trader at Golapbagh market told the FE that the sale is better than the previous days, adding: "Many traders are selling with losses." He expressed the hope that the number of customers will increase by Sunday night and Monday morning.
"We want to sell our cattle, but the customers are offering much lower prices that we expected," he added.
On the other hand, the customers said the prices of sacrificial animals are still higher compared to those of the last year. A buyer at the city's Kamlapur cattle market said the prices are higher by around Tk 7,000-8,000 at the markets on Sunday.
A leaseholder said the number of cattle in the market is adequate, but the presence of customers remained thin. He said the customers are taking time in purchasing their cattle, as the prices of animals are higher in the markets than the previous year.