Rawhide prices are good this Eid: Merchants association

Merchants have claimed that the price of rawhide is good this Eid as they are offering an average of Tk800 per piece.

"Rawhide prices are good this year. We bought a piece of rawhide for Tk800 on average, " Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants Association General Secretary Tipu Sultan told The Business Standard.

He said the traders of Posta Warehouse in Old Dhaka have set a target of buying 1.5 lakh pieces of rawhide this year.

They have so far bought 75,000 pieces of rawhide on the first day of Eid.

Total purchases will be known tomorrow (11 July), Tipu Sultan told TBS.

However, seasonal traders who collect rawhides directly from the public have claimed that merchants are offering Tk500-Tk800 per piece.  

This year, the price of salted cow rawhide is fixed at Tk47-52 per sq ft in Dhaka and Tk40-44 outside Dhaka. Besides, the price of goat hide has been set at Tk18-20 per sq ft while it is Tk12-14 per sq ft for female goat hide across the country.

Last year, the price of salted cow rawhide was fixed at Tk40-45 per square foot in Dhaka and Tk33-37 per square foot outside of the capital. The price of goat hide was set at Tk15-17 per square foot.

Besides, the price of salt, the key raw material of the industry, has also gone up recently. All these have contributed to the falling offer price for rawhides.

Reportedly, the price of salt costing doubled the normal price in the past three months.

Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) General Secretary Md Sakhawat Ullah told TBS that the rawhide collection target this year has been set at one crore which was around 82 lakh last year.