Staff Reporter :
Leather traders and manufacturers of leather goods have jointly fixed the price of every square foot of salted rawhide at Tk 70 to 75 for cows for Dhaka district and Tk 60 to 65 for other district. The price of salted goatskin is fixed at Tk 30-35 and salted buffalo skin at Tk 35-40.
Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), Bangladesh Hide and Skin Merchants Association (BHSMA) and Bangladesh Finished Leather and Leather-goods and Footwear Exporters’ Association (BFLLFEA) jointly
announced the prices of rawhides in a press conference at BFLLFEA’s Dhanmondi office in the city.
Prices fixed for this year are relatively lower than that of previous year. In the last year, the tanners bought per square feet of salted cowhide at Tk 85-95 in Dhaka and at Tk 75-80 in other district, goatskin at Tk 50-55 and buffalo skin at Tk 40-45.
BFLLFEA President Abu Taher said they had fixed the prices in line with the situation in the international market and domestic scenario.
Talking to media, BTA Chairman M Shaheen Ahmed said they had requested the seasonal rawhide collectors to follow prices already fixed so that they could avert any risk of financial losses.
“Do not buy rawhides with excessive prices. It may bring financial losses for you,” he told the seasonal buyers of rawhides.
On Wednesday, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed asked the tanners to fix prices of rawhides by Friday.
He also said, rawhides transportation in border areas will remain banned for 30 days after Eid-ul-Azha with a view to stopping its smuggling to neighbouring countries. Necessary orders dispatched in this regard have already been issued to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police. The government is likely to inform people about the fixed price of rawhide through cell phone messages.
According to commerce ministry, about 70 lakh rawhides are collected during Eid-ul-Azha every year, a number collected during the rest of the year.
During the year 2013-14, Bangladesh earned $1295.74 million by exporting leather and leather goods. Of the total earning, some $505.54 million came from leather, $240.09 million from leather goods and another $550.11 million from leather shoe export.
