The Federation of Italian Wood and Furniture Industries (FederlegnoArredo) released the latest industry survey report.
The report shows that in the first half of the year, the turnover of the Italian wood furniture industry increased by 22.2%, of which Italian domestic sales increased by 26.7% and exports increased by 16.3%. In the first quarter, turnover increased by 24.5%, with a 27.2% increase in domestic Italy and a 21% increase in exports. It slowed down in the second quarter.
In terms of lighting, the first half of the year recorded a revenue growth of 15.5%, of which exports increased by 13.1% and the Italian domestic market increased by 18.3%.
Some analysts believe that the relevant growth is mainly driven by government subsidies. As the European and international political situation has made the furniture industry very complicated, the overall growth of the furniture industry will gradually slow down compared to 2021, which will mean that it will be difficult to maintain growth in 2022.
Claudio Feltrin, chairman of FederlegnoArredo, commented, “We need to be aware that this result can be somewhat deceptive, as companies have been swept up in the past few months due to the continued rise in energy and raw material prices. forced price hikes.”
Notably, the Italian Industrial Producer Price Index clearly shows that lumber prices, especially planks, have risen by 31% in the first three months of 2022.
“Also taking into account inflation and the weakening of household purchasing power. We need to understand whether the decline in industry revenue is due to lower demand, or due to delivery difficulties due to scarcity of raw materials, or due to higher prices, or most likely a combination of these factors. ."
“In 2022, the problem was that the skyrocketing costs eroded profits and even investment, and now the question is what 2023 will look like. The changes in the market are so sudden that we need to stop and carefully consider the risks of the future development of the industry.”