Fair price on paper, throwaway rate in mkt
Bangladesh’s rawhide market has once again exposed a deep crisis in one of the country’s most promising export-linked industries. Every year after Eid-ul-Azha, millions of sacrificial animal hides enter the market. Yet for more than a decade, the same complaints have returned: government-set prices are not followed, small traders are forced to sell at throwaway rates, and the real benefit of the sector remains concentrated in the hands of a few powerful market players.
This year was no exception. Despite official price announcements, field-level sales showed a sharp gap between the government-declared rate and the actual prices received by seasonal traders, madrasas, orphanages and small collectors. Many traders alleged that the market had been effectively controlled by a syndicate of tannery owners and major wholesalers, while weak monitoring allowed the collapse to continue unchecked.
Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said the government had provided free salt to help preserve sacrificial hides. Speaking at the Secretariat on Monday, he said many hides could not be sold at the expected price because they had not been salted or preserved properly.
“If salt is not applied immediately after sacrifice, hides deteriorate quickly,” the minister said, adding that the government-set prices apply mainly to salted and properly preserved hides. He also stressed the need for greater awareness at the grassroots level, saying properly preserved hides can serve as valuable raw material for the leather and leather goods industry.
However, traders and sector insiders argue that preservation is only one part of the problem. They say the larger issue is the absence of effective price enforcement. The government announces prices every year, but there is no strong mechanism to ensure that tannery owners and wholesale buyers actually purchase hides at those rates.
In 2013, the price of raw cowhide was around Tk 90 per square foot. In 2026, the government-set price stood at only Tk 65 per square foot. This means that in 13 years, the official price did not rise; instead, it fell by Tk 25, a drop of nearly 28 percent. During the same period, the cost of almost every essential commodity increased significantly. This contrast has raised serious questions about whose interests are being protected in the rawhide market.
Visits to Lalbagh’s Posta, the country’s largest rawhide trading hub, and several other depots showed that many hides were sold far below the declared price. Large cowhides that were expected to sell for Tk 1,200 to Tk 1,400 were reportedly sold for Tk 700 to Tk 890. Medium cowhides expected to fetch Tk 850 to Tk 1,000 were sold for Tk 600 to Tk 700. Small cowhides were sold for Tk 150 to Tk 500, while goat hides were sold for as little as Tk 5 to Tk 20.
For many small traders, the sale price of goat hides did not even cover the cost of salt and transport. In several areas, goat hides were reportedly abandoned because collecting and preserving them had become financially meaningless.
The collapse has hit religious and charitable institutions particularly hard. Qawmi madrasas, orphanages and Lillah boarding houses have traditionally depended on sacrificial hide sales to support poor and orphaned students. Many donors hand over hides to these institutions every Eid in the hope that the proceeds will be used for welfare. But with prices falling year after year, these institutions are now facing a serious financial squeeze.
Madrasa authorities said the sharp fall in hide prices has reduced an important source of income. Some institutions are losing interest in collecting hides because the cost and effort no longer match the return.
Experts say the crisis is linked to several structural failures. Bangladesh has not been able to diversify its leather export markets strongly enough and remains heavily dependent on a few buyers, including China. This dependence weakens bargaining power. At the same time, the relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar has not produced the expected results because the Central Effluent Treatment Plant has not become fully functional.
Without full environmental compliance and internationally recognised Leather Working Group certification, Bangladesh continues to face barriers in selling leather directly to major Western brands. As a result, the country often sells at lower prices instead of gaining full value from its raw materials.
Industry insiders also allege that deductions are made at depots in the name of visual inspection. In many cases, Tk 150 to Tk 400 is deducted per hide on claims of poor quality, cutting marks or preservation issues. Small traders say they have little bargaining power and are forced to accept whatever price is offered.
This has created a supply chain where the weakest participants – ordinary donors, seasonal traders and small collectors – bear the biggest losses, while the larger players retain control over pricing.
Associations may claim that transactions took place at declared rates, but field-level experiences tell a different story.
The leather industry remains one of Bangladesh’s most important export-potential sectors. It is based on domestic raw materials and has the capacity to generate employment, foreign currency and value-added production. But repeated price collapse, weak regulation and poor compliance have pushed the sector into uncertainty.
Unless the rawhide market is properly monitored, fair prices are enforced, and the Savar Leather Industrial City is brought up to international standards, Bangladesh risks losing a major economic opportunity. For millions of small traders, poor students and charitable institutions, the crisis is not just an industry problem – it is a direct blow to their survival.
