Sale in cattle market dull for high price

Jubair Hasan Transactions at the makeshift cattle markets in the city was dull Friday as most buyers found the prices of sacrificial animals 'high'. The traders had expected a good response from the buyers on the day, the weekly holiday. Many cattle traders were found frustrated by the behaviour of the market though the presence of buyers was at a very satisfactory level. "I could not sell one single head of cattle out of 18 for the last two days", a cattle trader from Kushtia Anisur Rahman said. A cattle trader at Kamlapur cattle market said most traders had a hope that they would be able to sell a large number of sacrificial animals on Friday. "But it didn't happen as customers decided against purchase after hearing the price," he said, adding that he has to spend around Tk 200 daily to feed the animals he has brought to sell. The traders also expressed their fear that prices of the animals might fall significantly in the coming days if the supply of cattle to city markets increases further. Mamun, who came to Armanitola cattle market from Jamalpur along with 16 medium and large-sized heads of cattle, said he has sold two over the last two days and earned a profit of Tk 1000. Buyers, who have been visiting the city's various markets for the last several days, claimed that the cattle traders suddenly increased prices of sacrificial animals to gain more profit on Friday. Syed Mahian, who works at a lubricant firm, said that the traders had raised prices of sacrificial animals on Friday as he found the traders hiking the price of a cattlehead by Tk 4000. "A trader Thursday demanded Tk 48,000 for a medium-size cattlehead and today he is asking an amount of Tk 52,000 for the same. I don't know the reason behind the price hike," he said, adding that Friday could be a reason for it. He also said the high prices charged by traders are putting the middle-income group in trouble as they could not purchase cattle of their choice because of budget constraints. The traders, however, expressed their hope that trading in the markets might get a boost from today (Saturday) as most of the buyers came to markets on Friday only to get an idea about the prices of the animals. A member of Kamlapur cattle market Amir Hossain said the sale in the market is very poor. "We're hopeful that business will get a momentum from today (Saturday)."