Sales at city\\\'s Islampur cloth hub gain momentum

Sales at the country's biggest fabric wholesale market at Islampur in the city have got a momentum as hundreds of traders from different parts of the country have started thronging it to collect the best for their customers.
Traders concerned said that sales increased significantly at the market ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr thanks to a relatively cool political situation and the good Boro prices the farmers saw.
Haji Abdul Wadud, a cloth trader at Islampur, was passing a very busy time Thursday.
Talking to the FE at his shop, he said the sales increased significantly in the current year.
"We are passing the most favourable time compared to the last three years," he said.
"Shop-owners across the country started coming to Islampur before the Shab-e-Meraj this year. Last year we did not see such a rush even after Shab-e-Barat," he said.
"Last year the presence of traders from distant places was very low. It has increased significantly this year," he said.  
Sharif Dewan, owner of Shoumi Cloth Store at Islampur, admitted that the higher demand for cloth compelled them to increase the prices at least by 10 per cent.
"We sell a medium quality shirt piece at Tk 220-250 which is now sold at Tk 270-275 per piece.
"A better quality shirt piece is being sold at Tk 550-750 at my shop-up by 8-10 per cent," he added.
He said the sale of readymade garments of different qualities for children, men and women also boomed.
Mr Dewan said sales at his shop reached Tk 0.1 million per day against hardly Tk 0.020 million recorded in the corresponding period before last Ramadan.
"We expect trading will increase by nearly 30 per cent this Eid-ul-Fitr compared to that of last year," he added.
Md Akbar Hossain Mridha, a cloth trader at Badarganj in Rangpur district, came to Islampur on the day to collect both readymade garments and cloths.
He said the prices increased slightly at Islampur.
"Last year wholesalers at Islampur were just looking for customers. But the scenario has changed this time," he said.
"The business was dull in 2013 due to the political unrest and we made very nominal profits. But we are expecting a buoyant business in 2014," he said.   
He also pointed out that the sales would increase significantly in the year at the village level also as farmers got handsome amounts of money thanks to good prices for their Boro crop.
Abdus Sattar Dhali, president of Islampur Cloth Merchants Association (ICMA), told the FE that nearly 7500 cloth merchants under 127 markets at Islampur incurred losses last year due to political unrest.
"The ongoing upward trend of trading gives us some sort of respite or hope about recovering the losses. We hope the sales will increase further in the days to come," he said.
About trading in cloth, he said the monopoly of Islampur was no more as Baburhat in Narshingdi district was also attracting a good number of buyers of the country.