Supply aplenty, price quote prohibitive

Transactions in the capital's cattle markets did not pick up Friday as sellers were asking higher prices for sacrificial animals despite satisfactory supply.

Although many city-dwellers massed at 24 cattle markets across the city on the first day of the weekend to buy their desired animals, higher-than-expected levels of prices induced most of them to adopt a 'wait-and-see' policy.

They were thinking that the supply of cattle would increase further in the remaining days ahead of the holy Eid-ul-Fitr fiesta and subsequently their prices would fall.

The traders and farmers, however, attributed the higher prices of cattle heads to less influx of Indian cattle this year and gradual rise in prices of feeds.

On a visit to some cattle markets at Gabtoli, Kamalapur, Lalbag and Aftab Nagar, the FE correspondents found India's restriction on cattle export having no impact on the supply side.

Many traders brought increased numbers of cows, bullocks, buffalos and goats to make a good business this year.

Sensing a possible supply shortage, some of the traders changed their business strategy. They had reared their own cattle for months to get higher prices instead of their previous business approach to collect cattle a few days before the festival.

A medium-sized ox and bull (weighing 100 to 150 kilograms) was charged in-between Tk 60,000 and Tk 70,000 while the asking prices of such animals weighing 150 to 200 kilograms were Tk 80,000 to Tk 150,000.   

Goats were for sale at prices quoted between Tk 7,000 and Tk 60,000.   

"There are too many animals and a good number of customers also. I could not sell a single cow although I've been here since Wednesday evening," said Abul Hossain, a cattle trader who brought 20 medium- and large-sized animals to Gabtoli cattle market.   

He said buyers come to ask prices and move to the next trader immediate after hearing the price that he charged. "I think they just come to observe the market."

Md Tariqul Islam, a trader from Bhuapur of Tangail, who brought 20 bullocks with an investment of Tk 12 million, said the cattle traders have changed their business strategy to recoup last year's losses.

He said most of the traders earlier used to bring cows just a few days before the markets were launched, and sold those after fattening unscientifically.  

"For providing healthy cattle to the well-conscious consumers, we ourselves have reared cows for last one year and brought those to have good prices," he said.

The intending buyers do have their own as well. "I came to assess the prices of cattle. The price seems to be much higher this year compared to previous year," Mokbul Hossain, a private service holder, told the FE at the Kamalapur makeshift cattle market.   

He said he would wait a couple of days, thinking the supply of cattle would increase further in the remaining days in the run-up to the Eid, thus pushing down prices of the animals.

"A good number of buyers like me will wait till the eleventh hour to book their choice for not having enough space to keep their purchased animals," he added.

However, a few customers were also seen buying animals of their choice on the day.

Apart from Kamalapur, the FE correspondent visited other cattle markets at Khilgaon, Jatrabari and Lalbagh where a large number of cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep arrived.  

Meanwhile, the department of livestock services (DoLS) has deployed 700 officials and 1200 staff members at the cattle markets across the country to look after the cattle health conditions.

"A total of 24 teams are working at different cattle markets in the capital," director-general (DG) of DoLS Ajay Kumar Ray told the FE.

He said over 11.4 million indigenous cattle are now ready for sacrifice during Eid-ul-Azha this year. Out of them, cows and buffalos are over 4.4 million while goats and lamb 7.0 million.  

On the other hand, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) launched operation of 24 mobile courts to check the setting up of cattle markets on roads, taking additional amount as hasil (charge), and to maintain security in and around the cattle markets by checking irregularities.

[email protected] [email protected]