Sortilemn set to increase domestic sales to reduce international crisis effects

Sortilemn, based in Gherla (Cluj county), one of the leading Romanian-based suppliers of Sweden’s IKEA, continues to see turnover declines, amid a reduction in orders from foreign clients. The Sortilemn management wants to boost the share of Romanian sales in order to reduce the effects of the international crisis. The manufacturer posted an over 13.8 million-euro (58.1 million-RON) turnover in the first half of this year, down by around 26% against the similar period of last year. “The financial crisis is felt by Sortilemn mainly in the decline in orders from existing clients by around 20%; demand for our products may decline by approximately 25% by yearend. In the first half of the year we expanded the company’s product portfolio by new articles, we found new clients for children’s furniture and for office furniture, and we increased the share of sales on local markets,” Michael Brandhuber, general manager of Sortilemn, told ZF Transilvania.