Abdul Salam, a trader from Naogaon, came to Gabtoli market on Thursday (7 July) with 10 cattle. He sold nine but could not sell one. The unsold Friesian cow would give about 14 to 15 maunds of meat, and it has now become a burden for Salam.

On Eid-ul-Azha day, Sunday (10 July), more than a hundred cattle were seen at the Gabtoli market. Most traders had reportedly taken their unsold cattle away, but many were still sitting at the market with big cattle hoping to sell them. Buyers were also coming to the market to buy big cattle at relatively low prices.

The trader, named Abdus Salam at this point in the report, said: "On Thursday (7 July) buyers offered up to Tk 4 lakh, Tk 4.5 lakh for the white cow. I was asking Tk 5 lakh then. The others sold but this one didn't. Now buyers are offering Tk 2 lakh or Tk 2 lakh 20 thousand. I'll let it go if I get Tk 3 lakh."

He said he had sold the small cattle first in order to sell the big ones. "I have already lost Tk 1 lakh on one big cow. Now buyers are offering a low price for this one too. For the past two years I've been losing money selling big cattle."

Buyers, on the other hand, said sellers were not cutting prices much on Eid day because there were few cattle. They were offering big cattle a little cheaper but asking high prices for small and medium ones.

A buyer named Mohammad Alamgir Hossain said it was easy to shop on Eid day because there were fewer crowds, which is why they came. "Yesterday (Saturday) I couldn't even bargain. I'd name a price and someone else would name another. We will sacrifice a big cow tomorrow," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.