Tanners and relevant others will be procuring rawhide of sacrificial animals during the Eid-ul-Azha this year at prices 36.36 per cent lower than that of the last year
The prices of cow rawhide have been fixed at Tk 50-55 per square foot (sft) in Dhaka and Tk 40-45 per sft outside the capital for the Eid season.
Last year the maximum procurement prices of rawhide were fixed at 70-75 per sft in Dhaka and Tk 60-65 per sft outside the capital while in the previous year (2013) the prices were Tk 85-90 per sft for Dhaka and Tk 75-80 per sft outside the capital.
Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants Association (BHSMA) and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather-goods and Footwear Exporters' Association (BFLLFEA) jointly announced on Wednesday the prices for purchasing different types of rawhide at a press conference in the city.
As per their decision, the tanners in city will buy per sft of salted goatskin at Tk 20-22 and those outside Dhaka at Tk 15-17 while salted buffalo skin at Tk 35-40.
However, the rates for buffalo hides have remained unchanged.
Despite fixing the rawhide prices at lower level the tanners had to purchase the item at higher prices last year.
Last year they purchased salted rawhide of cow at a price of more than Tk 100 per sft though they fixed the prices of the same at Tk 70-75 in Dhaka and Tk 60-65 outside the capital.
BTA President Shaheen Ahmed, BHSMA President Delwar Hossain and BFLLFEA President Md Abu Taher spoke at the press meet.
They said they have fixed the prices in line with the situation in the domestic and international markets.
Reading out a written statement, BFLLFEA President Md Abu Taher said the sector has been suffering from a slump due to shifting of tanneries from Dhaka to Savar and falling prices of rawhide, leather and leather goods both in domestic and international markets.
Md Abu Taher said: "The leather industry is now passing through a critical time. Buyers at our main markets - the EU and the USA - are interested in cheaper goods, mostly artificial leather."
"Besides, many international buyers are refusing to buy our products as, according to them, the infrastructural set-up of our leather processing factories is not environment-friendly."
BTA chairman M Shaheen Ahmed said they have requested the seasonal rawhide collectors to follow the fixed prices, so that they can avert any risk of financial loss.
"Please do not purchase rawhide at excessive prices, it may cause financial loss to you," he said drawing the attention of the 'seasonal' traders of rawhide.
According to the EPB data, in the last fiscal year (FY) the export earnings from the leather and leather products marked marginal growth by 0.56 per cent to $1.13 billion, which was $1.12 billion in the previous year.
The leather export declined by 21.36 per cent to $397.54 million, while leather goods export rose by 3.78 per cent to $249 million in the FY 2014-15.
However, the leather footwear posted a robust growth by 27.81 per cent to $484 million, which was $378.5 million a year ago.
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