Month: October 2014

This analysis of EU wood furniture supply draws on production data from the Eurostat database of manufacturing statistics and trade data from the Eurostat COMEXT database. In line with Eurostat practice, all value data is reported in euros. The data covers all types of wood furniture with the exception of kitchens. Kitchen furniture is excluded because it is supplied almost exclusively by domestic manufacturers and is therefore less relevant to overseas manufacturers. In practice, the EU’s kitchen furniture industry has more in common with the joinery sector than with other parts of the furniture industry.  Note that while all data is ultimately derived from Eurostat, it has been subject to significant adjustment during preparation of this report in an effort to remove numerous inconsistencies.    

The latest Eurostat data shows that the EU market for veneers has suffered severely in recent years. The supply of veneers to the EU fell 33% between 2007 and 2013 due to the combined effects of economic crises, the decline of domestic plywood manufacturing capacity and competitive pressure from a wide variety of substitute wood and non-wood materials (Chart 1).