Raw cowhide prices in Natore, Bangladesh’s second-biggest leather trading hub, slumped to BDT 900 to 1,000 a piece on the second day of Eid-ul-Adha, well below the BDT 1,200 seasonal traders had paid, forcing distress sales amid a supply glut and acute labour shortage.

Goat and sheep skins fared worse, fetching BDT 20 to 30 each compared with a purchase cost of BDT 70, traders said. A shortage of workers to salt and preserve raw hides left part of the collected stock lying on the road outside the Chak Baidyanath market.

Traders had projected total hide-related business this Eid season at BDT 400 to 500 million.

A Natore district hide traders’ association said only 25,000 to 30,000 hides had arrived so far, a fraction of the full-season target of 1.2 million pieces. The target includes 400,000 to 500,000 cowhides and 600,000 to 700,000 goat and sheep skins. Inflows were lower than at the same point last year, the group added.