Sacrificial cattle traders face losses with decreased demand, falling prices
"I should have sold all my cows by Tuesday noon," Khoka Mia, a cattle farmer from Jamalpur, was regretting at the Tejgaon Haat in the capital on Wednesday evening.
Back in his village, he had received an offer of Tk2.7 lakh for his largest bull. Comparing it to the previous year's Eid ul Azha market and factoring in the increased cost of animal feed, he had hoped to fetch over Tk3 lakh by coming to Dhaka.
On Tuesday morning, during the peak of the seasonal market, he received an offer of Tk2.9 lakh and was waiting for better offers. However, heavy rain in the middle of the day disrupted the market, and he was forced to sell the smaller cows at prices 10-12% lower than the morning's peak.
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Despite the depressed market conditions on Wednesday, Khoka's ambition prevented him from selling his largest bull. By 9:00pm, a buyer offered him Tk2.2 lakh, but he was hoping for Tk2.5 lakh to avoid additional costs of taking the animal back home.
Expressing his disappointment, Khoka stated, "I could have sold it for 5% more than last year, but now it's a losing year for me." The cost of feeding the animals had surged by at least 40% this year, and bringing them to the capital city market had incurred additional expenses per animal amounting to several thousand taka.
Habib, a seasonal trader from Kishoreganj, also experienced losses. He had bought three cows from a local farmer and, after being offered a small profit on Tuesday morning, he now faced selling them at a 20% loss or more.
Cattle sellers at various markets in the capital admitted to overestimating the initial demand and acknowledged that those who lacked flexibility had learned a valuable lesson this year. Last year, the market surged at the last minute due to a supply shortage, but this year the situation was the opposite.
Bulbul, who had come to Aftabnagar Haat from Sirajganj to sell around a dozen big cows, expressed his frustration. He had sold four of them on Tuesday evening, barely making a profit, and was prepared to accept even bigger losses at the eleventh hour. The big cow he had rejected offers for at Tk5.3 lakh was now struggling to sell even at Tk4 lakh.
Traders like Bulbul were aware that failure to sell would only increase their costs unless they were willing to hold onto the cattle for a longer period.
Ultimately, it became evident that buyers who had paid higher prices in the previous year were now seeking acceptable prices, leading to weaker demand on Wednesday. Inflation, poor business returns, and an estimated supply of sacrificial animals that exceeded potential demand by one-fourth were among the factors that dampened the demand this year.
Mahbub, a businessman from Old Dhaka, typically sacrificed 5-7 cows each year but only bought three this year due to the impact of a dollar crisis and high inflation on his import business profits. Middle-class individuals, affected by inflation, were desperate to control the costs of their Eid ul Azha sacrifices, leading to a higher number of shared sacrifices of cows.
At 10:00pm, thousands of cattle sellers were hoping for last-minute buyers at the haats in the capital.
In contrast, their counterparts in rural Bangladesh were more satisfied this year, as they managed to secure moderate profits without the hassle and expenses of bringing them to Dhaka.
