Chittagong Leather Traders Scale Back Operations Amid Mounting Uncertainty
Photo Collected
A wave of uncertainty and deep-seated financial anxiety is gripping Chittagong’s seasonal leather trade as vendors struggle to recover from catastrophic losses incurred during the previous year’s Eid-ul-Adha. With many small-scale traders having suffered significant capital depletion, a substantial number of entrepreneurs are opting to exit the market entirely rather than risk further insolvency.
The reluctance follows a season marked by price collapses that left traders with little choice but to dump inventory into municipal landfills or bury hides to avoid escalating transport costs. Traders like Mohammad Nur Hossain, who reported a loss of approximately 160,000 taka last year after purchasing 290 hides at 700 taka each only to sell them for 150 taka, have explicitly ruled out participating this year. Others, such as Mohammad Rubel, who was forced to discard 200 hides into garbage trucks after finding no buyers, remain hesitant, considering only minimal involvement to mitigate potential damage.
বিজ্ঞাপন
The market crisis is rooted in a fundamental lack of trust cascading through the supply chain. Seasonal vendors fear they will be unable to secure fair prices, while wholesale merchants (aratdars) remain equally wary of the purchasing power of tannery owners in Dhaka. According to local merchants, this systemic instability is exacerbated by the stagnant recovery of long-standing debts. Wholesalers in Chittagong report that approximately 25 million taka in payments remains trapped with Dhaka-based tanneries—a backlog stretching back to 2014—while ongoing disputes regarding price deductions during delivery further discourage investment.
Rising operational costs are placing additional strain on the industry. The price of salt, essential for preserving hides, has surged from 700 taka to 950 taka per 74-kilogram bag in just a fortnight, significantly increasing the overhead for preserving each hide. Despite government-mandated price hikes for raw hides—which now range from 57 to 62 taka per square foot outside Dhaka—traders argue that these official figures rarely reflect the harsh realities of the ground-level market.
বিজ্ঞাপন
The Chittagong Leather Merchants Cooperative Society noted that while the district has set a target of collecting 400,000 hides this year, only 40 of its 112 members are currently active in the market. The association’s president, Mohammad Muslim Uddin, acknowledged the shrinking industry, noting that many veteran traders have already shuttered their operations. He warned that those who do enter the market must exercise extreme caution, noting that roughly 95% of traders suffered losses last year, and high expectations for profit could lead to further financial ruin.
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