Raw hide prices drop before Eid-ul-Azha

Yasir Wardad Prices of raw hide have declined by almost 14 per cent in the past two weeks, raising fears that seasonal merchants may smuggle out the export item to India for gaining windfalls. The drop-off comes just ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha festival when supply of raw skin of sacrificial animals becomes abundant. But leather industry stakeholders allayed the fear, saying prices would remain "reasonably high." Traders said per square feet (sft) of cow skin is selling at Tk 65-70 against the previous price of Tk 70-75 in Dhaka. They said price of per sft raw hides was Tk 70 to 75 in Dhaka and Tk 65 to 70 outside Dhaka, but the price fell to Tk 70 and 65 in Dhaka and Tk 65 to 60 outside the capital in a few days. In Bogra, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Pabna, Kushtia, Jessore, the seasonal traders are allegedly spreading rumour that the price of per sft skin would come down to Tk 50-45 against the current price. "If it happens, a significant amount of hide and skin in the border areas would be smuggled out to India," Md Rana, a shoe trader in Bogra, told the FE over phone. Md Mamun Ali Sarker, a small shoe trader at Nowabganj Bazar, said, "Last year they incurred a heavy loss as price of finished leather increased significantly after Eid". "Many of the seasonal traders are concocting news that hide merchants association, tanners association, and finished leather association-I mean big players would purchase raw skin at Tk 50 to 55, although the market price is now Tk 65 to 70 (in Dhaka)," he said. According to the Bangladesh Hide Merchant and Exporters Association (BHMEA), last year per sft cow skin was fixed at Tk 55 to Tk 60 in Dhaka and Tk 45 to 50 outside the capital. Price of different varieties of goat skin was fixed at Tk 22 to 30 per sft in Dhaka and across the country. A source at Hazaribagh said, "The price of cow skin was Tk 15 to 20 more per sft than the fixed price before the Eid-ul-Azha last year, but the hide and skin business stakeholders reduced the price, which led to smuggling". BHMEA president Md Aftab Khan told the FE that the price of skin of cow and goat would be fixed within this week. He said: "The Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), BHMEA and Bangladesh Finished Leather Association last week sat with the police commissioner of DMP. RAB, Coast Guards and BGB representatives were also present there. The authority assured us that they would strictly handle the smuggling issue". "We will fix a reasonable price to benefit both the small scale traders and big runners he said." Deputy General Manager of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) and a leather expert Md Jalal Uddin said, "The country has a demand of 200 million to 220 million sft of skin annually, of which we collect 80 per cent from this festival alone." He expressed the view that the animal sacrifices could increase this year as there is no fear of any kind of animal diseases that spread last year. Md Jalal noted that the government should fix the price before Eid to avoid any hassle for the businesses. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), leather and leather goods had a remarkable export performance in the last financial year, fetching $ 353.25 million.