The Italian wood furniture industry declined 8.1% in 2023 from 2022 to around $56.6 billion, due to both a weakening domestic market and weaker exports, according to a new report.<\/p>\n
FederlegnoArredo, the Italian federation of woodworking and furniture industries, said the domestic market, which makes up 62% of the industry\u2019s output, fell 10.1% for the year. Exports, which make up the remaining 38%, fell 4.5%.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decline in the supply chain as a whole has also been caused by the physiological decline in internal demand, after two years of exceptional growth,\u201d said FederlegnoArredo president Claudio Feltrin.<\/p>\n
Feltrin said 2023, although a decline, was an improvement over the more normalized and pre-pandemic year of 2019 but still slows the effect of inflation. He highlighted an \u201cuncertain macro environment\u201d going into 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a supply chain particularly devoted to exports such as that of wood-furniture, the ongoing wars, the evolving geopolitical balances and the recent Suez Canal crisis have a profound impact on multiple fronts,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom the tripled costs of containers, which fall to valley on the cost of finished products, to the energy which began to increase again in the first months of \u201924.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also brought up the price of wood, which he said is declining, but very slowly.<\/p>\n
On the export side, France leads at 2.7 billion euros (+0.6%), followed by Germany at 1.8 billion (-6.4%), which Feltrin said is struggling with \u201ca serious internal crisis.\u201d The U.S. fell to third place from second at 1.7 billion euros (-13.2%) after two years of growth. China fell 19.1%, the biggest drop within the top 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cA complex puzzle in which markets enter, markets exit in short time frames to which they do not, we were only used to it until a few years ago,\u201d Feltrin said. \u201cOur supply chain is made up mainly of small and medium-sized businesses, as we have always said, (that) have the flexibility and speed to achieve precisely in these factors adapt to changes. But this does not mean that it is easy, that it does not require effort, investments and vision.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Italian wood furniture industry declined 8.1% in 2023 from 2022 to around $56.6 billion, due to both a weakening domestic market and weaker exports, according to a new report. FederlegnoArredo, the Italian federation of woodworking and furniture industries, said … Continue reading