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CZECH REPUBLIC: FURNITURE PRODUCERS SEE SLIDE IN EXPORT SALES |
| CZECH REPUBLIC: FURNITURE PRODUCERS SEE SLIDE IN
EXPORT SALES April 2002 - Czech furniture producers are facing a slump in their key export sales to European markets. According to the Association of Czech Furniture Makers, in EU countries, Czechs' major export market, sales of furniture have dropped between 15% and 20% in the first two months of the year compared with 2001. The situation was most difficult in Germany, the single largest Czech export market. The biggest Czech producer of wooden and upholstered furniture, Tusculum, Rousinov (in the Vyskov district, near Brno) has most of its customers in Germany where some local companies have already closed down after sales dried up. The slump in sales has been caused by economic recession on export markets and the strengthened Czech crown, which makes Czech exports less competitive. The crown hit a new record high against the euro last week. The latest situation is a sharp reversal from the situation last year, when Czech furniture producers increased total exports by Kc 4.4 billion to Kc 34 billion. Besides Germany, there are important export markets in Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium. Czech manufacturers, like their Polish and Slovenian counterparts, can still beat their German rivals hands down on production costs because of lower wages. They have also tailored their production to local tastes, partly because the bigger companies fulfill clearly specified orders for foreign firms. Belgian, Dutch and Germans prefer heavier, more massive furniture while Czechs have taken to lighter, Italian designs. There are about 4,500 furniture makers in the Czech Republic, with Tusculum, Jitona, TON (the biggest world producer of bent-wood furniture) and Koryna (the leading producer of kitchen furniture in the Czech Republic) being the major playersExports make up about 20 percent of TON's total production, a smaller proportion than some of the other major Czech furniture manufacturers. More information on the Czech furniture market is available in "The furniture industry in Central and Eastern Europe" report, published by CSIL |
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