São Paulo – The business roundtables promoted at the Paraná Furniture Fair (Movelpar), which took place in Arapongas last week, should generate US$ 12.9 million in business over the next 12 months for the 48 producers who participated. A total of 402 meetings took place with 20 importers from 17 countries, among them the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Morocco. The estimates are by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and the Brazilian Furniture Association (Abimóvel).
During the meetings, promoted from the 10th to the 12th, Brazilian companies closed deals of around US$ 3.78 million. In the last edition of the fair, in 2007, the roundtables generated US$ 4.2 million in immediate business, including the participation of 69 producers and 25 international buyers. The importers came at the invitation of the Apex and the Abimóvel as part of the Buyer Project, a program whose objective is to provide incentives to Brazilian exports.
In a press statement disclosed by the Apex, the president at Abimóvel, José Luiz Diaz Fernandez, said that one of the main alternatives for the furniture producers to face the crisis is export. For the Brazilian product to gain greater visibility on the foreign market, the organisation’s president stated that a partnership has been established with a professional in the area of design and suggests that producers bet on new markets like Russia, India and countries in Africa.
Last year, industries in Arapongas and surrounding areas exported over US$ 70 million in furniture, which represented growth of 10% over 2007. It is in Arapongas region that the main furniture park is located, with around 50 years in existence. According to figures supplied by the Arapongas Furniture Industry Union (Sima), there are 173 furniture factories in the city and, when adding the surrounding cities, the total climbs to 888, answering to 65% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the city.
The 7th edition of Movelpar, which ended on Friday (13), brought together 190 exhibitors and retailers from all over Brazil. The fair received 38,958 visitors in the five days of the event, which began on the 9th. According to figures supplied by the fair organisers, trade totalled 450 million reals (US$ 196 million), which represented 50% more than the volume sold in the 2007 edition.
Most of the visitors at Movelpar were retailers and commercial representatives from the state of Paraná. Around 15% were from São Paulo. Then came Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, two states with great production and trade of furniture.
According to José Constantino, president at the Expoara, which organises the fair, the Moveplar results were surprising, mainly for having been obtained at a moment little favourable to the national economy.
*Translated by Mark Ament
