Fri, May 25 2012

Bulgaria’s furniture sector braces for 40 per cent drop in sales

Fri, Oct 09 2009 10:19 CET

byDnevnik.bg

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Bulgaria’s furniture sector braces for 40 per cent drop in sales

Photo: Anelia Nikolova

Battered by a sharp deterioration in domestic demand, Bulgaria’s furniture manufacturers are facing an up to 40 per cent slide in sales, according to Kalin Simeonov, chairman of the wood processing and furniture chamber.

Speaking at the World of Furniture exhibition at Sofia’s Inter Expo Center, he said that furniture demand had decreased by 50 per cent since the end of 2008, when the market was still alive and kicking.

Unlike wood processors, which were hit by the crisis as early as mid-2008, furniture makers pulled off a five per cent increase in sales for the year, hoping to dodge a decline in 2009.

A survey by local pollster Barometer showed that the furniture industry could have scaled up its output by 15 per cent if the crisis had not erupted, building on robust demand propped by blossoming construction and mortgage home purchases.

Thus, while about 70 per cent of company executives had lined up fresh investment in end-2008, now many have put their plans on the rocks, Simeonov said.

But as furniture makers see no signs of an upcoming rebound, the wood processing industry is experiencing tepid growth. Struck by the downturn in mid-2008 when the market ground to a complete standstill, the sector posted a slight recovery in the recent months. Companies based in the southern Rhodope region say foreign demand is perking up, with orders tricking in from Greece, Israel and Iraq, among other markets.

Source: Dnevnik.bg

 

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