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The use of modern equipment has brought forth a revolutionary change in the country’s furniture industry, tripling the market size in the last 10-15 years.
Once upon a time, all kinds of furniture would be made manually, which used to take a long time, and the designs also were less innovative.
But times have changed now as any small or large furniture can be made in a very short time using modern machines. At present, everything is done with modern machinery starting from wood cutting to painting.
Traders said modern machinery in the country's furniture industry was introduced during the 1990s, but the use of machinery started on a large scale in 2005.
In the beginning, only the brands used modern equipment, but now all the small and big furniture producers are using machines more or less.
Besides the big brands like Hatil, Regal, Akhtar, Brothers, Nadia, and Partex, most of the traders from almost all furniture markets of the country, including Jatrabari, Badda, Panthpath and Nawabpur in the capital, now use at least eight to 10 types of modern equipment, including routers, hand saws, shooters, hand drills, and various types of cutters to make furniture.
Md Sharif Hasan, owner of Sharif Furniture at Madhya Badda in the capital, said, “Now furniture business cannot be run without modern equipment. One cannot survive in this market making furniture manually. With a little training, workers can make furniture with small machines. The big advantage of machines is that it takes less time. At the same time, the designs are becoming more and more innovative.”
Five types of furniture are made in the country for office and home use – solid wood, processed wood, plastic, metal, and cane. The market for solid wood and processed wood furniture is comparatively big.
According to research by SME Foundation conducted in 2020, there are more than 70,000 small and large furniture manufacturing firms in the country. Till 2019, the country's furniture market size was Tk 25,000 crore and exports were Tk 638 crore.
According to the Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association (BFIOA), at present, the country’s furniture market is worth Tk 30,000 crore. Although the market growth recently stumbled due to Covid-19, the average growth was 10-15 per cent every year before the pandemic. The country was once dependent on imports, but now 95 per cent of the furniture demand is met from domestic production.
Salim H Rahman, president of BFIOA and also chairman of Hatil Furniture, told The Business Post, “The use of modern equipment in the furniture industry started 10-15 years ago. Industrial entrepreneurs have adopted machinery in furniture production to meet the increasing demand. The use of modern equipment increased keeping pace with the increasing demand for furniture. As a result, the speed of production and export have also increased in the industry.”
He said 10-15 years ago, the furniture market of the country was about Tk 10,000 crore, which has increased to Tk 30,000 crore now. “The use of modern equipment to meet people’s demands is the main reason behind this growth.”
Furniture manufacturers and traders said almost all kinds of furniture-making machinery, including routers, hand saws, shooters, wood treatment plants, and curvilinear edge bender, available in the global market are used in Bangladesh also. The prices of these machines range from Tk 8,000 to Tk 25 lakh.
Problems and prospects
According to industry insiders, the nearly $700 billion global furniture market is growing at a rate of more than 5 per cent annually. China alone meets over 30 per cent of the global demand for furniture. However, the global furniture market scenario is changing due to the increasing labour wages in China.
Furniture worth $110.36 million was exported in FY22, up from $74.88 million in the pre-corona period of 2019. Currently, Bangladesh exports furniture to India, Nepal, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and some European Union countries.
SME Foundation research says that 50 per cent of manufacturers in this sector are still dependent on hand-operated machinery and only 5 per cent use heavy machinery. Entrepreneurs say that there is still no formal education in this industry. So, manufacturers face difficulties in finding skilled manpower.
With the use of skilled manpower and modern machinery, Bangladesh has crossed the primary level and reached the second level. There is still a long way to go, they added.
