Chairs, living rooms, and kitchens become the best-selling Bosnian export brands

Thanks to the financial support of the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH, furniture manufacturers from our country will exhibit for the fifth time at the largest International Furniture Fair in Europe – IMM Cologne 2015, which is being held in Cologne (Germany) from January 19 to 25, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

In the Bosnian and Herzegovinian pavilion with an area of 210 m2, eight Bosnian furniture manufacturers will exhibit: Babilon from Tuzla, Bosnian Beech Board from Visoko, Minalli Živinice/Sarajevo, Malagić & Divani – Brčko, MS & Wood – Fojnica/Sarajevo, Petroprojekt – Bratunac, Praktik – Vogošća, and Woodteam – Ilijaš.

The pavilion of exhibitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in an attractive position in Hall 3.1, segment "Global Lifestyles", which presents group exhibitions of national stands from countries such as Russia, Romania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan… all in one place.

The Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina has undertaken extensive activities to invite potential partners and buyers to the Bosnian and Herzegovinian stand – for this purpose, a catalog of exhibitors who are presenting our country at the joint stand this year has also been prepared.

Thus, all visitors, at one of the most attractive locations at the fair, will have the opportunity to see an exhibition of upholstered wooden chairs (which are otherwise the best-selling Bosnian export product when it comes to furniture), various solid wood products for furnishing dining rooms and living rooms (including those signed by renowned domestic and foreign designers), upholstered sets, modern furniture in a combination of metal/wood, as well as furniture made of woven materials, writes Patria.

The IMM Cologne fair is traditionally the most important promotional event for Bosnian furniture manufacturers – as confirmed by the results of the previous participation, after which Bosnian companies achieved export sales in the German and EU markets totaling over 6.5 million KM. At that time, most business was done with partners from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria…, and interest in future cooperation was also expressed by buyers from the Gulf countries, Scandinavia, and numerous other countries.

According to data on furniture exports from Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period from January to November 2014, Germany, with its 34% share in the total export of BiH furniture to the world, still holds the primacy on the list of BiH's foreign trade partners. Although, as a result of production decline due to floods, exports to Germany were 1.2% lower compared to the same period last year, the amount of 63.8 million euros still confirms the undiminished importance of this market for Bosnian furniture manufacturers.

In the structure of exported furniture to Germany, wooden upholstered seats dominate (with an export value of 23 million euros).

This is followed by furniture for dining rooms and living rooms (17.8 million euros), furniture for bedrooms (9.6 million euros), and parts for wooden furniture (3 million euros). Interestingly, although in small amounts, the export of furniture and parts made of metal and other materials from BiH to the world, including Germany, is on the rise.

It reached a value of 4.8 million euros for 11 months of 2014. This indicator truly follows the trends in demand for this type of furniture in Europe, and since our country has a tradition of metal processing technology – this increase could realistically continue.

In addition to Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to have some of the strongest European markets among its export partners – in second place is neighboring Croatia (with a share of 14% of total BiH exports), followed by the Netherlands (with 6.6%), Italy (6.2%), France (5.6%)… In most of these markets, exports of Bosnian furniture are increasing compared to the same period in 2013, and a jump in exports of as much as 102% applies to Switzerland, which is increasingly showing interest in Bosnian furniture.