Furniture exporters told to monitor US market

CEBU, Philippines - Furniture exporters are urged to closely monitor the United States’ purchasing performance starting this month in order to guage whether the American market is on the recovery track in terms of spending.

Immediately after the Thanksgiving going to the Christmas season, furniture exporters can easily project if they should continue with their US penetration, although in the last 12 months the sector saw a slight improvement in market demand, said economist Jonas Ravelas.

Ravelas, the first vice-president and chief market strategist of Banco de Oro Universal Bank, said that the last two months of the year are the best time for furniture exporters to decide whether to implement expansion plans, or diversify their businesses, while the two huge markets (US and Europe) are still struggling economically.

Although there is a slight improvement, Ravelas said “growth is not yet here.”

The days following the Thanksgiving in US, specially the day they call as Black Friday is the important benchmark for exporters to see if the Americans are ready to spend their money.

At present, he said US and Europe markets have “stopped.” What remains to be “living” are markets such as Latin America and Asia.

Meanwhile, Hospitality & Wellness Industries Furnishers & Service Providers Association chairperson Rashmi Tolentino-Singh said earlier that the Philippine export products still have a lot of advantages in attracting the new wave of market protential.

“We have good products to offer. Quality is the battlecy. We need to have a culture of excellence, this will sustain us,” said Singh.

According to Singh the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and ASEAN countries is expected to boost Philippine trade, and provide promising market for struggling exporters who are now affected by the weak economic state of the traditional markets like US and Europe.

Based on a report released by PhilExport, exporters are encouraged to intensify their entry to populous markets, and develop relationships with emerging ASEAN market, taking advantage of the Philippines’s FTA with ASEAN member nations.

Based on a research study conducted recently, Singh said that there are consumer shows abroad that they can penetrate as well as other markets which have been considered competitors but are now actually their customers like China and India.

However, despite the opportunity, Singh warned exporters to be extra cautious in entering these populous countries. China, for example. Singh said that although the country has big potential, exporters must first do an intensive market research before penetrating this economic dragon.

Likewise, India offers a huge potential but not so much for consumer-based but for institutional markets, such as hospitality sector because the country is building thousands of hospitals and they can not cope with the demand.

The Philippines’ FTA in ASEAN like Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, should also be maximized, she recommended.

Middle East is also considered as “savior market”. Exporters are encouraged to focus on Qatar in particular because it is the only country in the world that has not been affected by the recession.