São Paulo – Furniture companies involved in the Brazilian Furniture program have posted a combined US$ 16.08 million in export revenues in Q1 this year. The figure is slightly down from Q1 2012’s US$ 16.64 million. The program is maintained by the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and the Federal District Wood and Furniture Industries Union (Sindiman) to encourage exports.
The 3.4% decline was mostly due to a 28% reduction in sales to Angola. “Our exports to Angola remain solid, and the reduction owed itself to the fact that the country’s economy is experiencing an atypical moment, a seasonal difficulty in settling debt,” says Adriana Katekawa, who is in charge of Commercial Intelligence for the Brazilian Furniture program.
The furniture companies affiliated with the program have exported to the nine target countries, namely South Africa, Angola, Chile, Colombia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Mexico, Peru and Russia. Sales to the Emirates were up 19%.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
