The figures for the wood-furniture supply chain in the third quarter of 2023 indicate a negative sign: -7.8% compared to the same period in 2022, while exports, which weigh 41%, stand at -7.5% and the domestic market at -8.1%. This is the Wood-Furniture Monitor survey carried out by the FederlegnoArredo Study Centre on a representative sample of companies that weigh 18% in terms of turnover, equal to about 10 billion out of the total 56.5. 

"That the third quarter would also be negative for both the wood-furniture supply chain and the two macro-systems we had already foreseen and announced some time ago, and now the data from our Monitor confirm this," says Claudio Feltrin, president of FederlegnoArredo.

Furniture macro-system: the Italian market holds 

The data for the supply chain do not show consistent variations between Italy and abroad, while for the two macro-systems the differences are clear. The furniture macro-system shows a -3.3% drop in sales, but the Italian market is holding up with +0.3%, while there is a significant drop in exports (6.4%), which account for over 51%. 

The wood macrosystem, on the other hand, shows an average drop of 14.5%, with a more accentuated negative trend on the domestic market -15.6% and, albeit in double figures, a more contained one for exports, which weighs in at -11.4%, accounting for 27%.

A complicated year for the wood-furniture supply chain 

The wood-furniture supply chain is therefore about to close a complicated year which, according to the FederlegnoArredo Monitor, is expected to be -7% overall, with exports at -7.2% and the domestic market at -6.8%. Even in this case, the downturn in the furniture macro-system is expected to be more contained (-3.7%) with a limited worsening on the domestic market (-0.9%) while the foreign market is at -6%. For the wood macrosystem, on the other hand, the year 2023 could close with an overall -11.5% (-11.6% Italy and -11.1 exports).

Signs of recovery for 2024 

With the end of 2023, therefore, an exceptional period for the sector can be said to have come to an end, one that has long seen it enjoy a season above all expectations, with numbers that are difficult to repeat. 

"Now a period of adjustment and normalisation awaits us, which must however be set in an unstable international context, the enemy of business and markets. - explains Feltrin - "But our Monitor shows a glimmer of positivity, with a 2024 that could bring the supply chain back to the positive sign with +2%, Italy at -0.7% and exports growing again by 6.8%. This is a breath of fresh air that mitigates the difficulties of '23 with the traditional markets - starting with Germany and the United States - in great difficulty, to which must obviously be added the war zones and China. The Middle East bucked the trend, first and foremost Saudi Arabia, confirmed by the +4.6% MSA in January-August, but also the United Arab Emirates and India. For the furniture macro-system, an overall +5% is expected, with a better trend for foreign countries (+7.5%) than for Italy, which is still positive at +3.2%".