Sales of locally manufactured household furniture have declined by 30 percent in spite of high time for the business while manufacturers estimate billions of rupees' losses across the country, observed market analysts on Wednesday.
Furniture manufactures of the metropolis also fear to suffer approximately Rs 30 billion losses during the season time. The market-players noted that prices of materials like chipboard, foam, and wood increase every year but this year the prices have soared by 25 percent to 30 percent.
The peak season of sale of household furniture is considered from August to December every year as most marriages usually take place across the country during this period.
Although people take interest in purchasing such items but mostly only for dowry purposes which according to the analysts comprises 90 percent for a short span of time, while 10 percent household furniture is purchased for home furnishing purposes has extensively declined recently.
The low sales of furniture are attributed to a decline in demand, which has diminished by the same margin resulted by the unemployment, high inflation, and increasing prices of the important ingredients used in household furniture including wood, chip board and foam.
"The people's purchasing power has declined greatly as price of everything that is related to the furniture manufacturing in the country has gone up manifold," analysts added.
The local manufactures are of the view that they were confronting two challenges that were the glut of Chinese products in local furniture markets and the second high prices of chipboard, foam, and real wood.
Seventy percent local manufacturers, vendors and dealers and labour in the metropolis have been affected only after the Chinese galloping imports of furniture arrived in the market through unrestricted gateways, they said.
They observed that despite the decrease in material prices used in foam production, the increase in price of foam was illogical, which was diluting the consumers' purchasing power.
The arrival of Chinese furniture has also hit the local office-furniture businesses by 70 percent and most of small industries involved in making office-furniture have turned into other businesses, they deplored.
Chinese office-furniture was produced by advanced plants giving great finishing touch to it while local manufactures lack such facilities which had brought them to regression.
They demanded of the government to decrease the import duties on raw material including chipboard, adhesive, wood, foam and other related items to compete the Chinese item at home.
They blamed that rebate on imports had been enjoyed only by a particular mafia involved in the price hike of raw material in the country, adding that it had accumulated billions of rupees through prices hike and black marketing.
They urged the government to salvage the local furniture industry as has been trodden by the Chinese furniture items and called for incentives to compete also in international market.
They expressed fear that country's trade deficit would further deepened if the exports could not been made which they coupled with the better and improved local manufacturing.
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