Sales pick up in city cattle mkts as prices head lower

Talha Bin Habib | Published: September 12, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Sales of sacrificial animals at different markets in the city picked up on Sunday with prices of cattle head showing a downward trend.
According to traders, sales increased nearly 60 per cent on the day against the less than 10 per cent of the previous day.
While visiting some markets in the city the FE correspondent found a large number of customers there looking to purchase the cattle of their choice for sacrifice.
The markets are at Kamalapur, Khilgaon, Shanirakhra, Gabtoli, Aftabnagar and Hazaribagh.
There are 24 cattle markets in the capital. The locally-bred cattle were in high demand there.
Most of the buyers, who succeeded to purchase their sacrificial animals expressed their satisfactions due to the price fall on the day compared to the previous days.Â Â Â Â Â Â
Small oxen and bulls were selling at prices between Tk 45,000 and Tk 55,000 on Sunday against Tk 65,000-Tk 75,000 of Saturday.
Medium-sized cows were selling at prices between Tk 75,000 and Tk 90,000 on the day against the previous day's range of Tk 80,000 to Tk 120,000.
Goats were also selling at comparatively competitive prices thanks to their supply glut at cattle markets as well as on the roadsides. Goats were selling at Tk 7,000-Tk 22,000 depending on their size. On Saturday the prices ranged between Tk 8,000 and Tk 25,000.
"I purchased a small ox at Tk 55,000," Md Alimullah told the FE with a tinge of happiness in his voice at the Kamalapur market in the afternoon.
"I managed to purchase a bull at Tk 85,000 today (Sunday) which was over Tk 100,00 on Saturday," a beamingÂ Sakhawat Hossain (buyer) told the FE at Khilgaon cattle market.
Traders said they could have made reasonable profits, if the Indian cows did not enter the markets by Sunday.
"I already have sold four cows out of seven today (Sunday) that helped me make reasonable profits. I hope rest of the cows will be sold out easily by Monday," Md Mannan Mandal, a cattle trader from Bogra, told the FE at the Sanirakhra cattle market. Â
Over 11.4 million locally-bred cattle are set to be sacrificed during the Eid-ul-Azha festival this year. Of them, cows and buffaloes are over 4.4 million while goats and sheep are 7.0 million, according to the Department of Livestock Services (DoLS). Â
The DoLS has deployed 700 officials and 1200 staff members at the cattle markets across the country to examine the health of cattle.
A total of 24 teams are working at different markets in the capital.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com