TEHRAN – Iranian furniture manufacturers have exported over $100 million worth of their products in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 22, 2022), according to the secretary of Iran Wood Industries Employers Association.

Ali Moghanlou said the country’s export of furniture in the mentioned nine months has been more than the total annual exports in the previous year, IRNA reported.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the 20th Exhibition of Home and Office Furniture, Decoration and Interior Design, Machineries, Equipment and Accessories (MEDEX 2023), Moghanlou noted that chipboards, MDA and HDF boards, and all kinds of sofas and furniture were the top exported items in the mentioned period.

“We have very good producers in the country who have defined good development plans and with the quality development of products, more export opportunities can be presented for this industry,” he said.

Also in the press conference, Hossein Norouzi, the secretary of the Iran Furniture Manufacturers and Exporters Union said this industry accounts for eight percent of the country’s total employment.

“Until 10 years ago, more than 500 million dollars of furniture was imported into the country annually, but with the help of unions and associations and the cooperation with the Industry Ministry in this area domestic production surged and imports decreased,” Norouzi said.

Earlier this year, Head of Iran Furniture Manufacturers and Exporters Union Hassan Ahmadian said the country has the potential to export $600 million worth of furniture annually.

According to Ahmadian, many countries including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and even Russia are eager to buy Iranian furniture, but the producers in Iran are currently facing some problems mainly in the supply of raw materials.

The financial turnover of the furniture industry in Iran is more than eight billion dollars, and due to job creation and high added value, it is considered one of the valuable industries, Ahmadian said.

He noted that more than 80,000 industrial, guild, and service units operate in the furniture industry and this industry accounts for more than eight percent of the industrial employment in the country.

He said his union has been trying to promote the domestic production of furniture in the country and prevent the imports of such products in order to support local manufacturers.

“In order to support domestic furniture production and industry, we tried to limit the import of such products, so that annual imports in this sector decreased from 250 million dollars to about 10 million dollars per year. We managed to prevent about one billion dollars of revenue outflow in the last five years,” Ahmadian said.

The head of Iran Furniture Manufacturers and Exporters Union further called on the government and the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry to take the necessary measures for the facilitation of the imports of raw materials needed in this industry.

“In the MDF and wood industry, we are the largest supplier in the region after Turkey, provided that the government and relevant organizations support exports; we need the support of the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade to supply raw materials. If they allow the raw materials needed by the furniture industry to be properly supplied for six months, then we do not need subsidized foreign currency support,” he said.

EF/MA