The temporary cattle market at Merul Badda in the capital has enough cows for Eid-ul-Azha, but buyers are scarce. Traders cannot sell their cattle even after cutting prices, and large cows in particular are finding no buyers. Most traders at the market looked worried.

A visit to the Merul Badda market on Friday (6 June) afternoon found only a handful of people looking at cattle. Most of those present were traders' men or market staff. With no buyers or visitors, the traders were sitting idle.

Traders and market managers said sales were very good on Thursday (5 June), though cattle prices were well below last year's. Because Thursday went well, some brought in fresh cattle on Friday morning, but few buyers appeared from the morning on.

Some traders are failing to sell even at lower prices. Big cows cannot be sold even for much less than buyers offered the day before, though traders are managing to sell some small cows at reduced prices.

Kislu Munshi brought 12 cows from Narail. His ten small cows sold on Thursday, but the two big ones were still unsold at 5:30pm on Friday. On Thursday someone offered Tk 3 lakh 75 thousand for one of them, but he turned it down. Today nobody is offering even Tk 3 lakh; the highest offer was Tk 2 lakh 80 thousand.

"I have a farm in Narail and brought 12 cows to this market," a disappointed Kislu Munshi told Jago News. "The ten small ones sold yesterday at good prices, but I couldn't sell the two big ones. Someone offered Tk 3 lakh 75 thousand for the biggest yesterday, and I think I made a mistake not selling. Today two people bargained and both offered under Tk 3 lakh. Selling at that price would be a loss, and I can't sell at a loss."

He said the cow would give at least 11 maunds of meat. "Even if it were slaughtered and the meat sold, it would fetch more than Tk 3 lakh. So how can I sell for less? I didn't realise the market would fall like this. I expected Tk 4 lakh. It's bad luck. If it doesn't sell now, I'll take it back home."

Md Saiful, who oversees the market and was standing nearby, said: "Yesterday someone offered Tk 3 lakh 75 thousand for the cow. We at the market told him to sell, but he held out for more profit and now he's stuck. There have been very few buyers since this morning. I don't think this cow will sell now."

Like Kislu Munshi, Kamrul, who brought 12 cows from Bogura, is also worried. He said heavy traffic on the road delayed him, and he only reached the market that morning. From morning to afternoon he had not sold a single one of his 12 cows. A few people bargained, but their offers would not even cover his costs, so he did not sell.

"I never thought the market would be this soft," he said. "If I had known, I wouldn't have brought cattle to Dhaka. People in Dhaka aren't even offering the price we paid for them back home. Bringing cattle to the market seems to have landed me in trouble."

In front of this reporter, one cow sold for Tk 1 lakh 43 thousand after long bargaining between buyer and seller. The seller, Abul Hossain, claimed three people had offered Tk 1 lakh 70 thousand for the same cow the day before.

Abul Hossain, who came from Kishoreganj, told Jago News: "Three of us brought six cows. The other two sold their four cows yesterday. I couldn't sell my two. Today I sold one, but I lost Tk 27,000 by not selling yesterday, when the price had reached Tk 1 lakh 70 thousand. Today I sold that cow for Tk 1 lakh 43 thousand."

He said there had been no buyers since the morning, and prices had suddenly fallen. "We are surprised at the prices people are quoting. For the cow I wouldn't sell at Tk 1 lakh 70 thousand, some offered even Tk 1 lakh 20 thousand. After a lot of effort I finally sold it for Tk 1 lakh 43 thousand. I'll sell the remaining one if I get a reasonable price. I will never bring cattle to Dhaka again."

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