The rapid growth of Chinese furniture exports to the US is creating problems for America’s furniture industry and the companies which supply it with particleboard and MDF, industry newsletter Random Lengths International has reported.
Chinese furniture exports to the US went up by 13% last year and were worth US$4.2bn. In the first quarter of 2003 shipments rose by 48% compared with the same period in 2002.
Many American ready-to-assemble furniture companies have laid off workers and reduced shifts due to poor sales. The nation’s largest furniture manufacturer has responded by forming a division to oversee foreign production.
A Canadian particleboard plant which supplies the industry has closed indefinitely because of market conditions. Others factors affecting the non-structural panels market include overproduction, rising costs and a languishing US economy.
