The government is set to allow one more company to export wet-blue leather soon to ensure its fair price in the local market, especially during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
The firm - Mukta Tannery Ltd - is likely to be allowed shipment of 2.0 million square feet (sq-ft) of the item. The export will be conditional, and the permission will remain effective until June 2022.
"We are going to allow Mukta Tannery to export 2.0 million sq-ft of wet-blue shortly," a high official of the Ministry of Commerce told the FE on Monday.
Earlier, five companies were allowed to export a total of 10 million sq-ft of the item to buoy up the local rawhide market, especially during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha. Each of the firms will be able to ship 2.0 million sq-ft of the item.
On Saturday, Bangladesh Tanners Association President Shahin Ahmed expressed his dissatisfaction over the government's decision.
He said if the government extended the decision beyond this fiscal year, it might create problem for the domestic leather and leather goods sector.
During the last couple of years, local rawhide market was unusually dull, and many traders had either sold rawhide at throwaway prices or dumped it in water-bodies or other open spaces.
The ban on export of wet-blue leather had been effective since 1990 for protecting the local tannery industry. The government, in July last year, had taken a decision to allow export of rawhide and wet-blue leather on a 'case-to-case' basis, relaxing a section of the existing export policy 2018-21. The decision has come into effect this year.
