Rising local demand helps exporters cope with losses
The robust demand for world class furniture products from the domestic market have sustained the business of the furniture exporters, offsetting declining orders from abroad.
“The domestic market is now an attractive market for us. We noticed increasing institutional orders from hotels, resorts, restaurants, and even residential clients,” said Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc., (CFIF) president Eric Casas.
Although the furniture exporters have tried to penetrate other markets other than
“Players have to adjust in these difficult times,” Casas said. Fortunately, the domestic market has become the savior filling in the gap of slacking orders from the US.
In the past, furniture exporters and makers used to manufacture huge volume of furniture products with almost identical designs for their clients in the
Currently, about 25 percent of the furniture production of the industry goes to the domestic market.
Casas said despite the worldwide economic slowdown as the effect of the
In the last few months, he said the furniture sector has noticed fewer plant closures, although there are some companies that are still implementing three-day-work-week, shifting, rotation and downsizing, in order to stay afloat.
In the last two years, the furniture sector have lost about 25,000 jobs, as companies declared closures, and bankruptcy due to the US economic slump, and other negative factors that have hit the industry.
Aside from the attractive domestic market, the furniture makers are also looking at other emerging markets, such as
CFIF on the other hand, is intensifying its support to industry members in providing programs to strengthen the industry’s hold in design capability, because aside from weak
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