Furniture exports fall 21% in first half

Canada remains top customer

Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, November 11, 2009

HIGH POINT — U.S. furniture exports fell 21% in the first six months of 2009, signaling a drop in demand for the products in some of the top industrialized countries.

The numbers are based on information Furniture/Today's market research staff compiles from the U.S. Customs Service, Census Bureau and International Trade Commission.

The first-half decline was a reversal from 2008, when U.S. furniture exports grew 15%. This year, shipments from January through June came to $1.05 billion, down from $1.3 billion in the comparable period a year earlier.

Canada remained the top market for U.S. furniture, but shipments to that market fell 21%, from $729.2 million to $579 million. That $150.2 million difference represented more than half of the overall drop in U.S. furniture exports during the six month period.

Other top markets in order include: Mexico (down 24% to $94.2 million); the United Kingdom (down 31% to $42.9 million); Saudi Arabia (up 33% to $27.7 million); Japan (down 2% to $21.3 million); China (down 42% to $16.6 million); the United Arab Emirates (down 14% to $15.7 million); Australia (down 31% to $10.4 million); the Bahamas (up 6% to $8.1 million) and Venezuela (up 60% to $7.9 million).

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and the Bahamas, other countries in the top 20 that increased their furniture purchases from the United States included Panama (up 205% to $7.8 million), Qatar (up 109% to $6.1 million), Bermuda (up 41% to $6.1 million), the Cayman Islands (up 98% to $6 million), Costa Rica (up 95% to $5.7 million) and Malaysia (up 51% to $4.8 million).