Ambitious target for Bangladesh leather sector
According to the Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), the country’s tanners will aim to collect 130 million square-feet of raw hide during Eid al-Adha on October 14-15. This is a significant rise compared with last year’s collection of 100 million square-feet.
Chairman Shaheen Ahmed claims that a rise in production costs in India and China have made Bangladeshi leather more competitive to overseas companies. He believes the upcoming festival will provide a great opportunity for local tanners to source material.
“The government provided TK3.65 billion [$46.8 million] for the hide traders last year, but we want more this year to meet increased demand,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
The government target for the leather and leathergoods sector this year is $670 million collectively ($460 million for leather and $210 million for leathergoods).
Export earnings totalled $561 million in 2012, up 23% year-on-year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau. Leather exports accounted for $399.7 million of this sum, with leathergoods exports totalling $161.6 million.
The main export destinations for leathergoods were Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, the UK and the US.
