Rising disposable income boosts furniture industry
The local furniture industry has achieved a significant growth in the last one decade thanks to the rising spending capacity of the consumers.
The industry insiders believe the demand for home and office furniture hit Tk 25,000 crore last year, whereas—according to a report of the European Union—the figure was only Tk 6,700 crore in 2012.
“We actually have no official data on the market size of the furniture industry. But the figure would surely be over Tk 25,000 crore,” said KM Aktaruzzaman, president of Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association.
Bangladesh earned $63.18 million from the furniture sector in 2017-18, according to the Export Promotion Bureau.
The country exports furniture to Australia, Canada, India, Nepal, Bhutan and the Middle East, said Aktaruzzaman, who is also the chairman of Akhtar Group.
The export volume will become double if the government cuts the import duty on raw materials, which now stands at 55 percent, he said.
The sector is growing fast with rising disposable income of the emerging middle-class, said Selim H Rahman, managing director of Hatil and chairman of Bangladesh Furniture Shilpa Malik Samity.
The labour-intensive furniture sector will expand in Bangladesh, as the country has low-cost labour, he said.
Developed countries are getting discouraged to produce furniture because of the high cost of labour, he said.
According to the EU study, 40 percent of the raw materials used by the industry in Bangladesh come from domestic sources.
The forests in Chattogram's hills and the Sundarbans are the largest provider of quality timber in the country, the study found.
The market players are Hatil, Akthar, Brothers, Partex, Navana, Nadia and Legacy.
Otobi was one of the top players in this sector particularly for office furniture, but now its market share has reduced significantly.
He said there was a lack of professional designers in the sector as no educational institute provides any degree on furniture manufacturing or wood.
Furniture manufacturers mainly use solid wood and engineered wood, he said.
Solid wood needs to be seasoned to be sturdy and aesthetically appealing, he said.
The high-end furniture makers normally use processed wood, which needs a good lacquer coating facility, he said.
The main raw materials used are wood, laminated board, wrought iron, processed wood and medium density fibre wood, particle board and rattan bamboo.
Most of these materials need to be imported. Of the wood, teak, gamar and hardwood come from Africa and Canada while Barmateak wood comes from Myanmar.
No entrepreneur can sustain business without adopting modern technologies, as the traditional craftsmen with their limited capacity cannot go for massive production, he said.
