Sales recorded by the wood-furnishing supply chain in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to 2.5 billion euro, according to the Monitor drawn up by FederlegnoArredo‘s Study Centre on a representative sample of companies, with a 1.4 per cent contraction compared to the same period in 2022, determined by minus 2.7 per cent on the domestic market and plus 0.4 per cent on exports. After two years of growth, the negative sign appears for the first time.
More specifically, the furnishing macro-system – which accounts for more than 60 per cent of total sales – recorded plus 3.2 per cent and a positive sign in both the domestic market (plus 5.3 per cent) and exports (plus 1.3 per cent). This positive variation is still more affected by price increases than by an actual increase in volumes.
The situation is different for the wood macro-system with minus 10.5 per cent compared to the same quarter of 2022; minus 12.4 per cent for sales in the domestic market and minus 4.7 per cent in exports. The decline is across many of the systems but is exacerbated above all by the decline in value of panels.
On the same wavelength are the forecasts for the whole of 2023, again according to the results of FederlegnoArredo’s Monitor: minus 0.6 per cent the overall figure for the chain, just below the 2022 levels with exports at plus 0.3 per cent and Italy at minus 1.2 per cent. As far as the furniture macro-system (MSA) is concerned, forecasts speak of plus 2.8 percent overall, with plus 3.3 percent for Italy and plus 2.3 percent for exports. On the other hand, the forecast for the woodworking macro-system (MSL) is negative with a minus 5.9 per cent overall, given by minus 6.1 per cent for Italy and minus 5.5 per cent for exports.
