Clicky
Country

Rangpur rawhide traders blame syndicate for dull business


Published : 13 Jul 2022 08:46 PM

Two days have passed since the Eid al-Azha. Tannery owners have not yet come to Rangpur to buy leather. As a result, traders are sitting with their hands folded with the skins of about 30,000 cows and goats. If the tannery owners' syndicate is not broken, they are afraid of losing their capital. Although the seasonal traders go from house to house every year to buy leather, this time the seasonal traders did not see much. As a result, the import of leather in the warehouses has decreased. The skins of many animals sacrificed in the village have been buried due to lack of buyers.

On the other hand, it has been alleged that Uttara Le traders, including Rangpur, have bought the skins of sacrificial animals at low prices through syndication. They also did not accept the price fixed by the Ministry of Commerce. They have been forced to sell leather at a much lower price than the government price of Tk 40 per square foot. As a result, this time some seasonal traders from Hategona have come to sell animal skins and are going back disappointed. Many are being forced to sell leather at the price of water. The leather belt adjacent to Shapla Chattar in Rangpur city is one of the animal leather business centers of Uttala Law. Traders allege that seasonal traders bought leather from various places and became hostages to the warehouse syndicates. After buying each leather for Tk 400, the storekeepers do not say more than Tk 200 to Tk 300. As a result, ordinary traders, including seasonal traders, are in danger of losing capital.

Leather traders said that even after two days of Eid, no tannery owner has come to Rangpur to buy leather. In the district headquarters, a handful of traders have bought 15 to 20 thousand hides of leather and piled them in salt. Very little leather has been purchased at the upazila level. In all, traders have bought 30,000 hides in the district. Traders fear that if the tannery owners do not come, the amount of salt and other expenses incurred in leather protection will not go up. Due to the syndicate of tannery owners, the leather business in Rangpur has collapsed. At present, due to the low price of leather, many of the victims have donated to the madrasas as they could not sell the leather to the seasonal traders. Some have buried it in the ground. The traders also said that the traders of Rangpur have been forced to buy leather at a much lower price than the price fixed by the Commerce Ministry. This year, cow skin has been sold at 250 to 500 taka. So they demanded to build a tannery industry in Rangpur. Leather trader Azahar Ali said, “A bag of salt costs Tk 950. With which 8 to 10 skins can be saved. There is no price for leather. Due to the high price of salt, he had to fall into extreme negligence.”

Mamtaz Uddin, the owner of the leather warehouse, said that if you want to buy leather at the price fixed by the government, you have to buy each leather at a price of 900 to 1000 taka. But buying salt, labor and other expenses cost more than 400 taka. That is why there is no opportunity to buy leather at more than 500 taka.

Sanwar Hossain, vice-president of Rangpur Leather Traders' Association, said, "We did not fix the price by syndicating. We also need to understand the problem. In order to prevent the collapse of the leather business, a tannery industry has to be set up in Rangpur. Otherwise, every year leather traders will lose their capital and sit on the road.”