Poles, Czechs and Hungarians have been spending more and more money on Romanian-made furniture over the last few years, despite of strong line industries in their respective countries.
Romania’s furniture exports to Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary together rose nearly four times in the last couple of years, from a mere $13.6 million in 2001 to $51.4 million last year, according to the data of the Association of Furniture Producers in Romania (APMR).
The three countries are important furniture producers and exporters in their turn, but the growth of the Romanian exports to these markets outpaced imports by far. Furniture imports from the three countries increased from $20 million in 2001 to $31.5 million in 2003, but their weight in the total furniture imports slid from 23% to 21.9%.
The major furniture makers in Romania did not focus on these markets that much, which means the actual drive behind exports were the small manufacturers. “The people in the three countries have rather different tastes compared with Romanians in terms of furniture design, colours and sizes. Mobexpert does not sell very much on these markets,” Mobexpert chairman, Dan Viorel Sucu, said.
The main quality of the furniture made in these countries is the low price. “The products imported from the three countries have an appealing look, are functional but are made of synthetic materials in most cases, and therefore cheaper than those manufactured in Romania, which makes them more affordable,” Aurel Rizea, APMR chairman explained.
The bulk of imports comes from Poland, wherefrom all sorts of furniture are brought to Romania. Imports from Czech Republic usually consist in furniture for stores and ergonomic chairs, while imports from Hungary usually comprise office furniture, vehicle seats and components, the APMR survey shows.
Romania’s major furniture producers were even planning to develop retail chains on the emerging foreign markets but settled for countries with a less fierce competition than in Poland, Czech Republic or Hungary.
Mobexpert for instance began construction of a furniture hyperstore in Sofia, Bulgaria and its long-term expansion plans include Kiev or Belgrade.
Dan Viorel Sucu, Mobexpert’s chairman said the Polish, Czech or Hungarian markets turned out to be too mature and too crowded already for such extensive projects.
The other leading producer, Elvila, announced plans to export to the former Soviet countries and to Russia.
georgiana.stavarache@zf.ro