RAJSHAHI, June 25: Seasonal and small traders of rawhide of sacrificial animals in the district incurred huge losses.
According to field sources, despite price hike of animal skins, its effect on the market was poor. Skins were bought and sold at the same price. Even per piece goat skin was sold at Tk 5-10.
Yet traders got goat skins for free along with cow skins. The seasonal and small traders suffered the setback for not being able to sell their skins, purchased by going home to home.
Common people are also dissatisfied with such prices of animal skins.
Business leaders said, the price of leather has increased; animal skins were traded at a higher price than last years; a type of disease, called corona, was found in 20 per cent of cow skins; so, tannery owners do not want to buy these skins.
In the afternoon of the Eid Day, in front of the Rajshahi District Stadium in Sapura area, the skins of sacrificed animals were piled on the road and traded. Besides, hides were also sold in Paba and Mohanpur upazilas.
Animal skins were mostly traded on the Eid day. Yet skins were traded in small quantities on the second day.
This year the price of skin was increased by Tk 5 to 10.
Most of the sellers are not happy with the selling price of animal skins. One piece skin of a cow of Tk one to two lakh was sold at Tk 700; skins of small and medium cows were sold at Tk 200, 300 and 500. Skin of big cow was sold at Tk 600 to 700.
Seasonal leather trader Ferdous Hossain said, traders are not buying goat skins; each piece of goat skin was bought at Tk 10; but the purchase price is not available; even Tk 300 is offered for 51 goat skins.
Another Abdur Rahim said, "This time the price of leather is very low; I have 53 pieces of goat and sheep skins; but traders offered only Tk 300; this price is half of the total value."
Former joint general secretary of Rajshahi District Leather Traders Association, Masud Rubel said, "Goat skin is selling at Tk 5 to 10. We have nothing to say because the market is like that."
Kalu of Budhpara area in the city said, "We got lower prices of skins on petty pretexts of defects. But we did not buy goat skins. Goat skins are given for free."
Leather trader Saiful Islam said, the business of cow-goat raw skin (without salt) has not been good for 9 to 10 years. We bought cow skins at Tk 200 to 700."
Asaduzzaman Masud, president of Rajshahi Leather Traders Association, said, the price of leather is slightly higher than last years; but it did not have much effect on trading.
Cow skins were bought and sold at Tk 700-1,000 in Rajshahi, he added.
He further said, due to lack of caution during skinning, leaks and cuts occur; buyers do not want to buy these defective skins.
The exact numbers of skins collected or sold this year is not yet available, he maintained.
