U.S. slowdown hits Indonesia's furniture exports

U.S. slowdown hits Indonesia's furniture exports

JAKARTA (JP): An association warned that the country might not
be able to reach its target revenue of US$1.8 billion from
furniture exports this year due to the economic slowdown in the
United States.

M. Djalal Kamal, chairman of the Indonesian Furniture and
Handicraft Industries Association (Asmindo), said on Thursday
that the country's furniture exports, especially low-end
furniture products, to the United States had been declining over
the past six months due to the economic slowdown.

Low-end furniture products account for 70 percent of furniture
exports to the U.S., which is Indonesia's largest furniture
importer, Djalal said.

"If Indonesian companies are unable to find a breakthrough, we
will not reach the furniture export target of $1.8 billion this
year," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on the
prospects of Indonesian furniture exports to the U.S.

He said one possible breakthrough was for the country's
furniture makers to enter the U.S. middle and high-end furniture
market, where demands are still strong.

He also said so-called ethnic furniture still sells well in
the U.S. despite the economic slowdown.

Henny Priyono, marketing director of InterAsia Furniture and
Craft Agency (IFCA), a consultancy firm specializing in
furniture, explained that U.S. demands for middle and high-end
furniture products were valued at US$40 billion, or 80 percent of
the country's annual furniture demand of $50 billion.

During the seminar, Henny announced that Asmindo and the
Indonesia Forestry Society (MPI) had formed a strategic alliance
with IFCA and North Carolina, the U.S.-based coating and chemical
company Lily Industry Inc. to improve the country's furniture
products as part of efforts to enter the U.S. middle and high-end
furniture market

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS),
Indonesian furniture exports to the U.S. reached $361.1 million
during the first 10 months of last year. Total exports during the
same period was $1.2 billion.

Exports to European countries, including the Netherlands,
Germany, England, Belgium, totaled $473 million in the same
period.

Japan imported $151 million of furniture products during the
same period, or about 12.6 percent of the country's total
furniture exports. (05)