Rawhide prices during Eid-ul-Azha have once again dropped below government-set rates across the country, frustrating traders and raising concerns about the effectiveness of recent policy steps, including the temporary lifting of the export ban on raw and wet blue leather.

Rawhide was not being bought and sold at prices fixed by the government, but the market situation was fairly good compared to last year.

Like previous years, the government has been approving applications of different companies seeking to export rawhide to create demand and enable better prices, said Tapan Kanti Ghosh, senior secretary to the commerce ministry, yesterday.