Traders have set the maximum price of cow rawhide at Tk 70-Tk 75 per square feet in Dhaka and Tk 60-Tk 65 for outside of the city. The price is lower by Tk 15 a square feet from the price of last year. The traders set the lower price of rawhide in excuse of declining demand on the international market. The traders on Friday made the announcement of the maximum buying prices of cow, goat and buffalo rawhide at a news conference at the office of the Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters’ Association in the city.
The traders set the buying prices of goatskin ranging between Tk 30-Tk 35 per square feet and buffalo hide at Tk 40-Tk 45 a square feet.
Last year, the price of cow rawhide was set at Tk 85-Tk 90 per square feet for Dhaka and Tk 75-Tk 80 per square feet for the outside of capital.
Citing excuse of price fall on the international market, BFLLGFEA chairman Abu Taher said many buyers expressed their unwillingness to import rawhide from Bangladesh as they seemed that the processing units in Bangladesh were not environment friendly.
He said the leather industry was passing through a tough time as the buyers were mounting pressure on it to comply with the international standard and the government was putting pressure for relocation of the industry.
‘We have set lower price of rawhide considering the recent trend on the international market,’ Bangladesh Tanners Association president Md Shaheen Ahmed said.
He said the export earnings from leather in the first two months of the current financial year 2014-15 fell short of its target as many buyers were shaky to business with Bangladesh.
Shaheen said the traders expected to collect at least 65 lakh pieces of cow rawhide and 35 lakh pieces of goatskin from sacrificial animals during this year’s Eid-ul-Azha.
Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed on Tuesday asked the traders to set a reasonable price of rawhide considering the international market so that people could get a fair price of the product.
-With New Age input
