The market is furnished with furniture – Kommersant FM

In Russia, furniture production has increased by one and a half times. At the end of 2023, almost 70 million units of such goods were produced in the country, according to statistics from the specialized association, Vedomosti writes. The indicator in terms of money increased by a third, domestic companies earned about 0.5 trillion rubles. At the same time, the supply of imported furniture on the market is actively decreasing. How in demand are the products of Russian factories? And how much does the buyer overpay? Alexander Mezentsev will tell you.

Prices for Russian furniture last year increased by an average of 10%, according to statistics provided by the Association of Furniture and Woodworking Industry Enterprises. Kitchen cabinets and office furniture have risen in price the most. Development Director of the Lastra factory Artemy Kulikov shared his observations: “In general, production costs increased by 20-25%, respectively, and the output price too. Still, a vacuum exists after the departure of foreign chains, and it must be filled, this is done by domestic producers.

Functionally, we managed to replace everything. If we talk about some individual technologies and developments, then 90% of furniture components are Russian fittings, raw materials, and so on, and about 10% come from Turkey, China and the CIS countries.”

The rise in production costs is influenced by an increase in electricity tariffs, as well as an increase in prices for accessories and raw materials. But Russian factories are motivated to develop by the departure of large foreign brands. Thus, in 2023, IKEA sold its last plant in the Novgorod region, and demand for household goods from the Swedish chain cooled.

Against this background, domestic production was able to produce almost 70 million pieces of furniture at the end of last year, which was a record since at least 2005. And buyers have mostly already reoriented towards Russian analogues, noted designer and interior psychologist Irina Makarova: “The trends of both last and this year are naturalness, authenticity and minimalism. Accordingly, the requirements of customers are appropriate – laconic forms, that is, nothing superfluous. Of course, people are accustomed to certain brands and marks, but now it turns out that they need to somehow try this whole thing experimentally. But if you want quality, it, unfortunately, won’t cost three pennies.”

Another reason for the growth of the domestic furniture industry is the increase in the number of new buildings. Last year, more than 40 million square meters were commissioned in Russia. m of housing, the figure increased by 10% compared to 2022. However, when arranging a new apartment in the luxury segment, there is a risk of not finding what you want, said the head of ST-buro Evgenia Shokogoui:

“I can’t say that everything is bad. But for now, we probably cannot name any significant furniture fashion houses, as we are used to talking about, for example, Italy or England. But in business class the offer is quite good.

That is, these are not mass production, but some small companies. But everything is up to par, it’s good processing, good equipment, good paint shops.”

Meanwhile, experts warn that industry growth will slow this year. Demand for furniture will decline due to a possible decrease in the issuance of mortgages for new buildings and an increase in loan rates for secondary housing. According to forecasts by the ACRA rating agency, the mortgage market will grow by a maximum of 10–15%, which is half as much as in 2023.

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Elena Tyuleneva