The Furniture Sector in Pakistan: Export performance and ... - TRTA i

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Table 2.1 HS and SITC product codes for wooden furniture Product group Wooden furniture Group breakdown SITC 3 HS Seats of cane, osier, bamboo “Other” seats with wooden frames Office furniture, wood Kitchen furniture, wood Bedroom furniture, wood Other furniture, wood Furniture other than metal, wood or plastic (cane, osier, bamboo, etc.) Mattress supports for bed frames Furniture parts, of all materials 821.13 821.16 821.51 821.53 821.55 821.59 821.79 821.21 821.80 9401.50 9401.61/69 9403.30 9403.40 9403.50 9403.60 9403.80 9404.10 9403.90 The word Furniture refers in this report to wooden furniture as described above. Only in Furniture parts, also other materials are included, but wood dominates also in that product category. The typology of furniture is based on intended end-use or space where the items will be accommodated. It is not always possible to follow this logic. However “Other furniture (SITC 821.59)” mainly refers to living/dining room furniture, bookcases, wall units, mirrors, hallstands, but also to small and occasional furniture (desks, small seats) for various spaces/end-uses, as well as shop fitting furniture such as shelves. This furniture group comprises many items that do not perfectly match to any of the above key categories. It is usually the largest category in international trade statistics. Pakistan’s furniture types A similar categorisation is being used in Pakistan. Wood is undoubtedly the main material in Pakistan’s exports. But the country also produces some metal (wrought iron rod, steel), upholstered furniture for offices and special medical furniture. Foams are also used for cushioning in upholstered chairs and seating. As mainly solid wood of hardwood species like Sheesham (or Indian rosewood), walnut, oak and similar is used, the furniture is normally quite heavy in weight. Also common to most developing countries is the existence of sub-segments in their domestic furniture market, such as (a) household furniture for domestic and export markets, (b) “institutional” furniture segment for schools, hospitals and other public premises, and (c) contract furniture to private sector clients in shops, banks and hotels, etc. The four main styles are antique, mughal, modern (Italian), and oriental. Most items fall in the living room, dining room and bedroom categories. “Other” or “accent furniture” falls outside the basic living, dining room and kitchen furniture ranges. It finds its role in the smaller, casual and miscellaneous items, sometimes referred as “occasional furniture” due to its complementary role in home furnishing. Typical items are side or corner tables, magazine tables, standing small shelves (etageres), chests, nesting and pedestal tables, small chairs and home bars, etc. This category is almost without exception the biggest furniture category in the trade statistics of any country. 10 International Trade Centre
According to the websites of importers, Pakistan considerably produces these occasional items. Consumers in the main markets are increasingly liberal in mixing different styles and ethnic designs in their homes, and decorative Pakistani furniture often attracts buyers when they are shopping for small accent furniture for tuning a part of their interior decor. Reproduction of antique furniture is an important niche for Pakistan, as it normally fetches good prices and is favoured by consumers with above-average purchasing power. As an evidence of this favourable trend, a quotation follows from Home Accents Today, e-daily (14. 07. 2006): “Traditional tastes take an unexpected journey to exotic parts combining classic styling with well-travelled details. While, the look stays grounded with classic accent furniture and an antique-inspired rug, splashes of spice colours and medallion patterns pull from Islamic design. Look for warm metals like brass and bronze to add a glowing spirit while cool green and blue balance things out with a timeless touch.” Technology levels The above workflow is typically a hand-carved furniture system, which seems to be the dominant one in Pakistan. There are a number of different levels of mechanization that can be identified. In fact, the Pakistani furniture makers could be benchmarked against the following categorization of technology levels put into use by furniture makers on average in the world. This has been developed by UNIDO, and represented in ITTO-ITC’s publication Tropical Timber Products: Development of Further Processing in ITTO Producer Countries (2000). Box 2.1 Technology levels in furniture industries of the developing countries • Facilities that use basic portable tools and universal woodworking machines • Facilities that use basic woodworking machines (band saw, planer, thicknesser, spindle moulder, boring machine etc.) to produce in small batches • Facilities same as in 2, but producing larger batches, using low-cost mechanization and jigs suitable for serial production whenever possible • Facilities that use special purpose machines (4-side moulders, copying lathes, edgebenders, CNC moulders etc.) • Facilities with integrated machining lines (linked machines used for production of panel furniture, doors, surface finishing, robots used for painting, integrated lines). Source: ITTO-ITC (b), 2002. A jig is a self-constructed modelling appliance that facilitates production, lowers labour costs and improves product quality. The use of jigs enables the production of interchangeable parts and avoids manual adaptations in the assembly of the final product. Machining and assembly jigs are commonly used in furniture factories. Discussion on technology categories Categories 1 and 2 typify the technological status of furniture processing in a large number of producer countries, consisting of a great number of micro enterprises, usually employing 20 to 50 persons. International Trade Centre 11
Page 1 and 2: The Furniture Sector in Pakistan
Page 3 and 4: Acknowledgements The report was pre
Page 5 and 6: Abbreviations AFTA AHEC AKTRIN APFE
Page 7 and 8: Table of contents Acknowledgements
Page 9 and 10: Box 3.1 Multilateral discipline of
Page 11 and 12: Executive summary This study sets t
Page 13 and 14: the extent possible maintain or imp
Page 15 and 16: 1 Background and objectives 1.1 EC
Page 17 and 18: 2 Furniture sector in Pakistan 2.1
Page 19: On the buyer’s side, there are gl
Page 23 and 24: Global demand for furniture in main
Page 25 and 26: suppliers, both domestic and other
Page 27 and 28: Table 2.3 Pakistani furniture expor
Page 29 and 30: Figure 2.4 Distribution structure f
Page 31 and 32: freight rates have increased and do
Page 33 and 34: Price The prices of local machinery
Page 35 and 36: Indonesia has also announced a ban
Page 37 and 38: industry itself should support effo
Page 39 and 40: various counterparts, the supplier
Page 41 and 42: Box 2.7 UK Timber Trade Federation
Page 43 and 44: Figure 2.5 Simplified example on ch
Page 45 and 46: At least 70% of the wood used in ma
Page 47 and 48: Scope of joint ventures There exist
Page 49 and 50: • With FAO’s Forest Products an
Page 51 and 52: The contact information of many of
Page 53 and 54: Box 2.10 USAID initiative in the fu
Page 55 and 56: Opportunities Major opportunities m
Page 57 and 58: pressure on the price. There appear
Page 59 and 60: Pakistan does not export this furni
Page 61 and 62: 3.1.3 Functional scope The function
Page 63 and 64: Current status of efforts to libera
Page 65 and 66: 3.2.2 Information flow-upwards, i.e
Page 67 and 68: Commission (EC/EU) has established
Page 69 and 70: Figure 3.3 Relevant intensity of WT
Page 71 and 72:
Box 3.2 Regional Trade Agreements (
Page 73 and 74:
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectu
Page 75 and 76:
Agreement on the application of san
Page 77 and 78:
country or materially retards the e
Page 79 and 80:
Relevance of the furniture sector T
Page 81 and 82:
3.4.2 Other countries’ access to
Page 83 and 84:
Table 3.2 Top 10 buyers of the Paki
Page 85 and 86:
Arabian market. Here again, there i
Page 87 and 88:
• Material from China is being us
Page 89 and 90:
4.2 Obstacles and shortcomings - im
Page 91 and 92:
Raw material recovery Raw material
Page 93 and 94:
• Consistent policy for supportin
Page 95 and 96:
A short-term but maybe a costly mea
Page 97 and 98:
5 Export services in Pakistan 5.1 E
Page 99 and 100:
5.1.3 Federation of Pakistan Chambe
Page 101 and 102:
• Pakistan International Freight
Page 103 and 104:
The lessons learnt here could be re
Page 105 and 106:
6 Conclusion and recommendations 6.
Page 107 and 108:
6.2 Critical success factors • A
Page 109 and 110:
6.4 Global value chains 6.4.1 Poten
Page 111 and 112:
Benefits All timber tends to be air
Page 113 and 114:
• Optimise cutting; • Calculati
Page 115 and 116:
6.6.5 If we had US$100,000: A techn
Page 117 and 118:
• To modernise such a laboratory,
Page 119 and 120:
Annexes Annex A — Sources of info
Page 121 and 122:
• Federmobili information on the
Page 123 and 124:
• National Home Furnishings Assoc
Page 125 and 126:
International Trade Centre 115
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