Oak-made furniture gaining traction

Furniture made of oak wood is getting popular day by day in local markets because of its attractive look, high strength, durability, affordable price and easy maintenance, manufacturers and importers said.

They also said that oak wood is ideal for manufacturing any piece of furniture, including beds, tables, sideboards, cupboards, solid desks and other things as well.

The market players further said that currently, furniture made of oak wood has huge demand among the middle-income and high-income group of people due to its affordability.

Besides, different style of oak furniture brings beauty, naturalness and elegance in both homes and offices as well, they claimed.

Ziku Das, manager of Hashem Furniture at Panthapath, said, “Compared to the past, our oak furniture sales have increased in recent years. Malaysian oak made furniture are of high demand because it is cheaper than Canadian oak wood made furniture. The quality of the Malaysian oak is also good.”

“I sold furniture worth around Tk 5 crore last year. In the Panthapath area, we have more than 150 shops and most of the shops are selling oak furniture. I started selling oak furniture in 2010,” Ziku added.

He further said that compared to the past, the quality of oak furniture has also improved in recent years, though it raised manufacturing costs by a few thousand depending on the product.

Al Amin, manager of Sayeed International, said, “I sold oak furniture worth more than Tk 6 crore last year. Till now, I have a good experience selling oak furniture.”

Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association (BFIOA) President Selim H Rahman, also chairman and managing director of Hatil Complex Ltd, said that the Bangladesh furniture market is worth Tk 10,000 crore. “The oak furniture shares a significant portion of this market,” he said.

A total of 1,300 members from different parts of the country are listed under BFIOA.

Sheikh Abdul Awal, a vice-president of BFIOA, said, “The oak furniture has better demand. It covers around 50 per cent of total furniture market. Annually, around Tk 5,000 comes in revenue from oak furniture.”

“Customers like oak furniture for its beautiful colour, which makes it distinct from other furniture. It is also cheaper compared to other furniture made by Segun and Sundary,” Awal added.

Kazi Md Mazharul Islam, director of Wood Icon at Kazipara said, “In my showroom, we offer customers better quality oak veneer furniture. We can fulfil the demand of the customers amid the pandemic.”

Oak veneer is the Canadian variety of oak furniture.

“We have nearly 300 furniture shops at the Kazipara area. Most of the shops sell oak furniture as it has huge demand,” said Mazharul Islam.

Md Rahat, sales manager of Glamour Furniture said, “Trendy people prefer oak furniture over other furniture. We have better sales now regarding oak furniture.”

Abdul Awal, a customer at Stadium Market, Mirpur-2 said, “Oak furniture is easy to maintain and also looks better and that’s why I have come here to buy oak tables and chairs for my home.”

BFIOA President Selim H Rahman said that currently more than 25 lakh workers are employed in the furniture sector. They said that now oak wood is mainly imported from Canada, Malaysian and South Korea.

US-based market research firm Precision Reports in a report titled Oak Furniture Market Growth Factors 2021 said “Globally growing urbanisation, increasing consumer goods industry operations, multinationals, regional retail outlets and supply chains have the potential to increase oak furniture market growth over the forecast period 2020-2027.”

The report also said that the growth of youth and workforce, along with the recreational environment and internet access, offers several opportunities that would drive the growth of the oak furniture market in future.