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Click here to return to this month's Article Index The Cutting Edge™ - September 2004International Business DevelopmentWood Furniture Import Trends Wood Furniture import statistics have been broken down into 11 component parts: bedroom furniture, wood frame upholstered furniture, chairs, furniture parts, office furniture, kitchen cabinets, furniture and parts of rattan, cane or bamboo, chair parts, kitchen furniture (excluding cabinets), furniture for vehicles and other wood furniture. Members can click here to view a series of tables showing 3 year trends by type, by country, by fastest growing country as well as imports from China by type. Members will need their user name and password to log onto the site. Contact Karen Boyle, WMMA® Headquarters, (215) 564-3484, for forgotten user name and password. Wood furniture imports continued its double digit growth for the first 6 months of 2004, growing by 15% to $6.8 billion. Wood Bedroom furniture grew by 22% perhaps because of or in spite of the recent Department of Commerce preliminary dumping determination (see related article). China continued to be the largest supplier (41% import market share) and one of the fastest growing (27% over the same period last year) with shipments totaling $2.8 billion. The US now imports over 50% of its bedroom furniture from China, 34% of its wood frame upholstered furniture, 34% of its chairs, 52% of its chair parts and 32% of other furniture parts. While China continues to be the main concern for wood product producers, other supplying nations are gaining market share. Vietnam, which supplied less than $12 million in 2001, exported over $126 million over the first half of 2004. It is currently the 9th leading supplier nation and it would be no surprise if it is one of the top 5 by 2005. Vietnam has placed a high priority on furniture production. The country has developed a "furniture city" close to its capital where it has its own port and accounts for the vast majority of its production and exports. It is a market that WMMA® members should seriously consider since it is open to US sources of supply, may of the producers speak English and the are hungry for additional machinery. Other countries that have been increasing their shipments to the US include: Slovakia, Finland, Lithuania, Chile, Brazil, Poland, France, Germany, Sweden, Thailand, India and Malaysia. Table of Contents
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