Month: August 2020

The downturn in EU imports of tropical wood and wood furniture products during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic may be less severe than first forecast. As expected, EU27 (i.e. excluding the UK) tropical wood and wood furniture product imports fell sharply in May in response to supply side problems and the lockdown measures in most of the main EU markets, losing around one third of value against the five-year average for the month.

Newly released Eurostat data indicates that the value of EU27+UK wood furniture production was €42.5 billion in 2019, 1.4% less than the previous year. In retrospect, it looks as if the rebound in EU wood furniture production following the 2008 economic crises peaked as early as 2017, as 2019 was the second straight year of decline and the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged market prospects in 2020. Last year, EU wood furniture production was still 20% down, in real terms adjusted for inflation, compared to the years just prior to the 2008 crises.