After the market instability of 2016 the performance of the Brazilian furniture industry has started to improve. Between January to March this year furniture exports totalled U$141 million, an 8% increase compared to the same period in 2016, according to IEMI (IEMI - Inteligência de Mercado) analysis of data from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC).
Around 26% of exports went to the US followed by 12% to the UK and 10% to Argentina. Expectations for further expansion of exports in the second half of 2017 are high even though the pace of export growth appears to be slowing.
The industry cites rising costs as a major hurdle to be overcome. IEMI expects a rise of 4.5% in furniture exports in dollars for 2017.
