The sale of sacrificial animals is yet to gain momentum at cattle markets across the capital as of Thursday evening, three days ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, as the prices of the cattle seem very high this year.

Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of Muslims, will be celebrated in Bangladesh on Sunday.

Though sufficient cattle is available at the markets, traders were seen charging much higher prices for their cattle than last year’s while the customers were bargaining hard expecting that the price may fall in the last two days.

However, cattle market authorities said the sales are likely to mark a sharp rise from Friday as both sides -- customers and traders -- will soften their stances with the passage of time.

Visiting various markets, including Gabtoli, Pallabi Eastern Housing, Kachukhet, Bhatra Sayeed Nagar, Aftabnagar, Kamalapur, Meradia, Khigaon and Jatrabari in the capital on Thursday, UNB correspondents saw a huge number of customers and traders turning up since afternoon amid an adequate supply of sacrificial animals.

The small-sized cows were being sold at unusual prices due to its higher demand among buyers while the big ones were sold at relatively cheaper prices.

“I went to Meradia cattle market today (Thursday) but didn’t buy cattle as the price still looked much higher than last year’s. The price is likely to drop from Friday as the supply of cattle is more than enough at the markets,” Mostak Ahmed, a resident of the city’s Rampura area, told UNB.

Abul Halim, a private service holder, said the buyers this year are asking high prices of the cattle. "I purchased this medium-sized bull for Tk 84 lakh. The same type of cattle was sold at Tk65,000-70,000 last year.”

Anisul Haque, a resident of Jatrabari, said he bought a cow at Tk 75,000 after long bargaining and spending a lot of time and energy. ”Such cattle were sold at best at Tk 60,000 last year.”

He said though the cattle supply is adequate, the traders are charging high prices as they think people will be forced to buy the sacrificial animals at the last stage as most buyers are still testing their nerves.

Pointing at his cattle, another customer Kamrul Islam at Gabtoli cattle market, said “I bought it at Tk 1.4 lakh after a long haggle. Such cattle were sold at around Tk 1.3 lakh last year.”

He said though the prices of the big cattle are comparatively cheaper than small  ones, their prices are still much higher than last year’s.

Businessman Aminul Islam, who bought a bull at Tk 1.80 lakh from Aftabnagar cattle market, said the prices of the big-sized cattle are around T10,000 higher this year than last year’s.

Showing the cattle he bought, Islam said the same cow was sold at best at Tk1. 7 lakh last year.

However, traders blamed the high price of cattle feed as the main reason behind the exorbitant prices of the cattle this year.

They said the prices of staple cattle feeds such as wheat bran, rice bran, oil cake, maize, Indian peas and molasses have all increased two to three-fold of late.

Delwar Hossain, a cattle trader who came from Kushtia, said he is worried about suffering huge losses as the sale is very low. “I don’t know whether I will be able to sell all the remaining 10 cattle. I could only sell two cows.”

Mostafa, a cattle trader who came from Gaibandha with 20 cattle to Meradia market, said he has so far sold five of them today. “We’re charging higher prices as we bought those at high prices. Besides, the prices of cattle feed increased sharply. I hope the number of buyers will increase on Friday and we’ll get fair prices for our cattle.”

Kahirul Islam a cattle trader from Pabna who brought 16 cattle to the market, said the demand for big cattle is very low.

Rakib Imran, Director of Gabtoli Cattle Market, said the presence of buyers increased on Thursday but the sales are not satisfactory.

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He said the supply of cattle at their market is still not adequate as many traders are bringing their cattle at the last stage. “I hope the supply of cattle will increase by Thursday night while the sale will get momentum on Friday.”

Miznur Rahman Sabuj, a leaseholder of Aftabnagar cattle market, said the sale is still moderate though there is a huge supply of cattle to their market.

“As only two days are left, we hope the cattle sale will begin in full swing from Friday. Many customers are still observing the market expecting a fall in prices,” he said.

Pallabi Eastern Housing cattle market convener Kamal Hossain said their market witnessed huge customers, but a moderate sale on Thursday. “We hope, it will sharply rise on Friday with fall of cattle prices a bit”

About 1.21 crore animals have been prepared for sacrifice this year in the country, against the demand of 97.75 lakh, according to the Department of Livestock.

 On Eid-ul-Azha, more than one crore animals, including cows, buffaloes and goats, are usually sacrificed in the country. But the number of animal sacrifices has been declining since the outbreak of Covid pandemic two years ago.

According to the Department of Livestock, over one crore animals were sacrificed in the country in 2019. The following year, 94 lakh animals were sacrificed. Last year, the figure dropped further.

Up to 4,407 makeshift Eid cattle markets have been set up across the country this year. Ten cattle markets are in the Dhaka North City Corporation area and 12 in the Dhaka South City Corporation area.