CHATTOGRAM, AUG 04: The ill-fated seasonal leather traders in Chattogram dumped thousands of pieces of rawhide as they failed to sell the skins to permanent leather traders and wholesalers.
The households that offered sacrificial cattle on Eid-ul-Azha sold skins to traders almost for free this year.
According to traders, seasonal traders also abandoned leather in large quantities failing to sell the skins -- the essential raw material for footwear.
Sources said permanent leather traders and dealers collected around six lakh pieces of leather of sacrificial cattle at much lower prices.
Despite the government-fixed rates, traders, particularly the seasonal ones, had difficulty in selling skins and thus dumped huge amounts of leather in the port city, seasonal leather traders said.
Shamsul Islam, a seasonal leather trader, said they had no facility to preserve leather. So, they left rawhide by the roadside.
Mohammad Ali, another trader, said, "We gathered skins almost for free and tried to sell at low prices. I somehow sold leather, but many of us failed to sell."
Soibal Das Sumon, ward councillor and president of garbage management committee of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), said, "We dumped at least 15,000 pieces of abandoned leather on Sunday."
Seasonal traders tried to sell leather to permanent traders but they did not buy leather even at low prices. So, large quantities of leather were dumped like last year.
According to tannery owners and leather traders, an estimated 500 thousand (five lakh) pieces of leather of sacrificial cattle are collected every year during Eid-ul-Azha.
Mohammed Moslem Uddin, former president and incumbent adviser of Chittagong Leather Arotdar Samity, said this year's collection is more than expected.
"Our target was around 400 thousand (four lakh) pieces. Tanneries in Chattogram are closing trade for a lack of supply of leather from local market," he told the FE.
Chittagong Leather Arotdar Samity president Abdul Kader said, "We've collected around 500 thousand (five lakh) pieces of leather in the current year."
"We bought cattle skins as per the government rates. But many seasonal traders didn't sell leather for more prices."
Twenty-two tanneries, including Hilton Leather Industry, Karnaphuli Tannery, Rowshan Tannery, Chittagong Tannery, Orient Tannery, Meghna Tannery and Reef Leather Limited, used to produce leather goods here even a decade ago.
But only two tanners are producing leather goods now. Reef Leather is the last investment in the sector which was set up in 1991.
Since then, the port city has seen no new investment or no new tannery unit.
nazim07@yahoo.com