Tough time for rawhide traders

Rawhide traders are facing a tough time with their business as 21 out of 22 tanneries in Chattogram have been shut down. They are now forced to sell hides at a cheaper rate due to the absence of a competitive market in the port city.

Every year during Eid-Ul-Azha, rawhide is sold at a lower price than the price fixed by the government, which is decreasing the collection of rawhide, said traders.

They claimed there were at least 22 tanneries in the port city. Over the years since 1971, various reasons contributed to the factories shutting down. At present only one tannery has survived.

A total of 112 merchants operate under Chattogram Rawhide Warehouse Traders (CRWT) and another 150 operate outside the association in the port city. However only 55 merchants, out of 112, are running their businesses. The rest were forced to close shop in the last few years.

Merchants expect that they'll be able to collect at least four lakh pieces of rawhide including cow, goat and buffalo post Eid-Ul-Azha. Although they collected 4.82 lakh pieces of rawhide in 2021, the numbers significantly decreased since 2018, when about 5.75 lakh pieces were collected.

Moslem Uddin, president of CRWT, said, "This year, we have a target of procuring around 4 lakh pieces of rawhide (20% less than the previous year) due to a capital crisis and also since many merchants have closed their businesses."

"The port city tanneries, which used to only depend on cowhide collected across Chattogram region including the hill tracts got shut down over the years, increasing dependence on Dhaka markets."

He also said 20-30 thousand skins are wasted every year as they cannot be collected properly or sold by traders.

Khurshed Alam, an adviser to Chattogram Rawhide Traders Samaboy Samiti said, "Over the years most tanneries got shut down as the government enacted strict law against pollutant factories."

"At present the one factory that exists purchases 15-20 percent of the total collection of rawhide. The rest of us have to depend on Dhaka tanneries for business."

"The shutdown of Chattogram tanneries has been a great loss for us. We urge the government to bring back tanneries ensuring necessary precaution for environmental safety," Kader added.