“The lack of orders, on both the local and foreign markets, began to show in October-November 2008, traditionally the months with the highest sales. But it was in January-February 2009 that the market crashed, as these were the months with the poorest sales in the past ten years. As of March, according to our data, things began to stabilize,” APMR’s President, Aurica Sereny, told Business Standard.
Furniture production declined 16 percent in Q1 compared to the corresponding period in 2008. In absolute value, furniture production in Q1 was worth €378 million, compared to €449.7 mln in the first three months of last year. Looking at the whole of 2008, local furniture production was worth €1.74 billion, down 7.5 percent compared to 2007.
Companies in the furniture industry also resorted to layoffs due to the economic crisis, with the number of employees down 17 percent in Q1 alone, to 63,100 people, compared to the first three months in 2008.
For this year, APMR’s President estimates a 10 percent drop in the market, to €1.02 bln, considering that sales could regain part of the ground lost in the second half of this year. Although the employers association has not yet centralized the data at mid-year, a 20 percent drop is expected. In terms of volume of production, this could slide 10-15 percent in 2009, to €1.5-1.6 bln.
