German furniture industry increases sales

BAD HONNEF/HERFORD (dpa-AFX) – The German furniture industry significantly increased its sales figures in the first quarter. Between January and March, furniture manufacturers’ sales increased by 16.1 percent to around 4.8 billion euros, as the managing director of the furniture associations (VDM/VHK), Jan Kurth, announced on Tuesday. For comparison: In the 2021 financial year, the industry achieved an increase in sales of around 2 percent.

Two effects led to the significant increase in sales, said Kurth. “On the one hand, the lockdown at that time must be taken into account when comparing with the previous year.” The corona-related trade closures would have led to a drop in sales of almost 8 percent in the German furniture industry in the first quarter of 2021. On the other hand, the sales growth reflects the high order backlog and the increased production costs of the manufacturers, which result from the higher material prices.

According to Kurth, the supply bottlenecks for the primary materials have now eased slightly. However, the supply chains are still extremely fragile. “Material availability is currently at a high price, and this cost development is a major burden for the German furniture industry,” said Kurth.

Between January and March producers of kitchen furniture (up 16.8 percent), upholstered furniture (up 20.8 percent) and office and shop furniture (up 12.2 percent) recorded strong sales growth. Sales of other furniture, which also includes living room, dining room and bedroom furniture, increased by 19.3 percent. Only the mattress industry recorded a slight decline (minus 1.9 percent). Domestically, the industry achieved an increase of 15.6 percent, abroad the German furniture industry achieved 17.1 percent more than in the same period of the previous year.

The incoming orders are currently still above the previous year’s level, but have weakened over the course of the year, said Kurth. “In addition to the effects of the pandemic and the Ukraine war on supply chains, material and energy prices and logistics, fears of inflation and the weakened consumer climate are causing uncertainty.”/rea/DP/eas