Late salting drives down Eid-ul-Azha hide prices, says Advisor Adilur

Delayed salting has caused a shortfall of expected prices for sacrificial animal hides this Eid-ul-Azha, leaving many sellers disappointed, Industries Advisor Adilur Rahman Khan has said.

He noted that the interim government had supplied 30,000 tonnes of salt, but in some areas, rawhides were not salted properly or on time, resulting in damage and loss in value.

The advisor was speaking at a meeting with tannery owners in the hall room of the BSCIC Tannery Industrial Estate in Hemayetpur’s Harindhara in Savar.

He said 378,000 hides from sacrificial animals have arrived at the Savar industrial zone.

Another 750,000 hides from Dhaka and elsewhere in the country are expected to be delivered to factories at the estate within the next few days.

Adilur added that the caretaker administration made efforts to ensure smooth collection this year.

“We tried to fix the skin prices appropriately so sellers would be paid accordingly. The government is working to advance the leather industry.”

To prevent further spoilage, he mentioned a new export plan. “The government has decided to allow the export of raw hides as wet blue to boost the sector’s capacity.”

“Everything necessary will be done to sustain the industry,” he said.

Blaming the previous administration for the sector’s poor condition, Adilur said: “Action is being taken against those responsible during the past government’s tenure.

“The Anti-Corruption Commission has already summoned them.”

“This is not the 2017 regime,” he said. “It rose from a mass uprising. The last one acted against the industry’s interests, so they fled.

“This government will do what must be done.”

He also noted that steps were under way to modernise the central effluent treatment plant at the tannery estate.