Expensive wood and energy costs hit the furniture industry. Loses his impetus

Expensive wood, high costs of maintenance of employees, high electricity prices – these are just some of the factors causing a decrease in the competitiveness of the Polish wood and furniture industry on global markets; We lose our impetus – the vice president of the National Chamber of Commerce for Furniture Producers Jarosław Michniuk told PAP.

The expert pointed out that The Polish wood and furniture sector urgently needs government support – Especially when it comes to wood prices.

Polish furniture companies export 90 percent its production, and the wood industry, including furniture and paperwork, generates 15 percent. revenues of Polish exports.

Jarosław Michniuk noted that after 2022, the growth of the Polish wood and furniture industries was rapid. In 2010, the revenues of the furniture industry amounted to about PLN 25 billion, similarly to the wood industry.

– Thanks to the stable conditions of doing business in 2022, the value of the revenues of both sectors was already around PLN 65 billion. By 2022, we recorded growth, even despite the Covid. We have become a power in a European scale. In 2022, the peak of employment in the furniture industry was about 170,000 people. Today we have employment of 140,000 – over the past three years 30 thousand. people left the industry. Revenues began to fall even despite inflation – he said.

He explained that success was possible, among others thanks to the stable prices of raw material and relatively low operating costs. Currently, the scale of sector companies and their profitability decreases.

According to the data provided by the room, in 2024, as Jarosław Michniuk emphasized, the modest profitability of furniture manufacturers reduced by another 20 percent, and in the wood segment by up to 80 percent. In addition to the visible slowdown on European markets after 2022, an important factor inhibiting the development of the sector in Poland are decisions taken in the country.

The vice president of the National Chamber of Commerce Furniture Producers indicated that since 2022 Poland has the highest wood prices in Europe. This is related to the change in the sales policy of this raw material by the State Forests in 2021. Despite the light corrections introduced under the pressure of industry in 2024, the prices of wood are still uncomfortable compared to other European countries.

– More expensive round wood bought by processors of this raw material are more expensive wood -based boards for furniture manufacturers. As a result, our furniture ceases to be competitive in price on the European market. Since the State Forests are supervised by the Ministry of Climate and the Environment, despite the protests of the industry, the state's economic interest was not included in their activities. As a result, the state budget loses instead of gaining: expensive wood is a lower competitiveness of the industry, exemption, reduction of revenues and lower tax revenues. And the net profit of the State Forests is record -breaking in recent years – at the level of PLN 700-900 million a year – he said.

PAP interlocutor emphasized that apparent additional revenues to the state budget from the sale of wood will certainly not compensate for the losses incurred by the sector. He admitted that restrictions on the acquisition of wood are also a big problem for the industry.

It was the election promise of the current authorities that 20 percent. valuable nature areas are to be excluded from economic use. Due to the ill -considered and unconsulted exclusion of forest areas from economic use, some species of wood began – he said.

He added that nature defenders lack listening to the voice of science. – Scientists emphasize that in order to prevent forests, you need to rebuild them – we should actively obtain wood from the forest and to plant new trees and reduce the age age of some species – he explained.

Michniuk also assessed that the condition of the sector companies is also affected by the cost of electricity high due to the background of many other European countries.

– However, electricity is only a few percent of the product production costs. For us, the problem associated with the minimum wage is much more important. In recent years, the minimum wage has increased by 50 percent, while wages are among the leading costs of furniture production. The Polish furniture industry is about 20 thousand. entities, including a lot of microfirms, small family businesses. Increasingly, their owners cannot afford to keep the crews in their current size, and to automate companies, you also need to have money. Companies cannot afford investments – he said.

According to the Vice President of the Chamber, the sector companies are threatened with the need to carry out group layoffs, close some plants and even bankruptcy. In his opinion, the situation of the Polish wood and furniture industry can only be improved by the consistent and long-term state policy.

Entities of this sector expect the government announced some time ago at the premiere of the wood and furniture industry. They also expect urgent actions to reduce the prices of wood from the State Forests. An important element is also a gradual reduction of energy costs by energy transformation and adapting the growth rate of the minimum wage to the real possibilities of the economy.

This year, the National Chamber of Commerce for Furniture Manufacturers celebrates its 30th anniversary. This year, guests of the Congress will be representatives of EFIC, i.e. the European Furniture Producers Association. According to Jarosław Michniuk, this will be an opportunity to learn about the experience of the EU market and jointly seek solutions in the face of global challenges, i.e. additional duties introduced by the USA for furniture from Europe and the dynamically growing import of products from China. (PAP)

RPO/ MMU/