CHATTOGRAM, May 18: Chattogram rawhide traders have targeted the procurement of around 4 lakh pieces of rawhide from sacrificial animals during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha season.
For preservation of these rawhides, traders will require around 3,500 metric tonnes of salt, worth over Tk 4 crore.
Muhammad Muslim Uddin, President of the Greater Chattogram Rawhide Traders Cooperative Society Limited, said at a press conference that traders are concerned about the rising price of salt, which is expected to cost over Tk 4 crore in total.
He alleged that the price of salt has increased to Tk 800 per 74-kg bag ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, compared to Tk 580 per bag during the previous Ramadan.
"We have targeted to collect 4 lakh rawhides during the upcoming Qurbani season due to the higher price of salt," he said.
But in the previous year of 2025 Chattogram Rawhide Traders' Association sources said that they had procured more than 4.25 lac rawhides.
They alleged that some portions of the rawhides had been damaged due to lack preservation materials in the previous year.
The Association sources said that around 3,61,000 hides of sacrificial animals were collected during season of 2024 last with over 2,50,000 of them being cowhides. This Eid, our target is to collect 4 lakh hides.
"Previously, around 250 people used to collect hides, but in recent years, this number has dwindled to between 20 to 30 individuals. It is challenging for such a small group to gather more skins," traders Association said.
According to rawhide traders, approximately one sack (74 kg) of salt is needed to preserve 100 hides. However, every year, the price of salt in the market tends to rise a few months before Eid al-Adha.
The rawhides were preserved under the supervision of district and upazila administrations using salt provided free of cost by the government.
Chattogram remains one of the country's largest markets for salted rawhide during the Eid season, handling around 350,000 to 400,000 pieces of hide every year. However, due to the lack of adequate local tanneries, most hides have to be transported to Dhaka.
The traders said they face severe difficulties after Eid as major buyers from Dhaka often do not travel to Chattogram to purchase hides.
The Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir told the reporters after a meeting at the ministry's conference room in the capital recently, salted cowhide prices in Dhaka have been fixed at Tk 62 to Tk 67 per square foot, while prices outside the capital have been set at Tk 57 to Tk 62 per square foot.
The price of salted hides of castrated goats (khasi) has been fixed at Tk 25 to Tk 30 per square foot across the country, while female goat hides (bakri) will be sold at Tk 22 to Tk 25 per square foot, he added.
Meanwhile, ahead of the upcoming Eid al-Azha, the Greater Chattogram Rawhide Traders Cooperative Society Limited has placed a seven-point demand before the government, urging immediate measures to protect the country's struggling leather industry.
They said that the rawhide business in Chattogram is on the verge of collapse due to years of distrust between traders and tannery owners, failure to ensure government-fixed prices, unpaid dues and mounting financial losses.
Association President Md Muslim Uddin alleged that although the Ministry of Commerce fixes prices for salted rawhide every year before Eid, tannery owners later purchase hides at prices 30 to 40 percent lower than the announced rates.
