Guadalajara, Jalisco. While most economic sectors were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the furniture industry in Jalisco, the second largest in the country after the Mexico state, reported sales growth of 8% during 2020, 5% in 2021 and expects to grow 10% in 2022.
The president of the Association of Furniture Manufacturers of Jalisco (Afamjal), Teresa Calderón Durán, indicated that during confinement the sector benefited from factors such as distance classes and working at home, which forced families to buy adequate furniture to adapt the home as an office and classroom.
He commented that in homes, workplaces, hotels and other establishments, today there is an increasing demand for furniture for open spaces, which boosted the growth of the furniture industry in Jalisco, which has 2,825 companies (88% of them micro and 10 % small), and generates more than 27,000 jobs.
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International factors such as logistical problems and the increase in sea freight that affect the import of Asian products have also favored local manufacturers, said Roberto Quiñones, coordinator of the Afamjal Exhibition Committee.
Due to this situation, the International Summer Furniture Expo held in August 2021 occupied almost the entire surface of Expo Guadalajara, and received buyers from all over the world, while the edition that will take place from February 16 to 19 next will have the participation of 400 exhibiting companies and expects to close deals for 800 million pesos.
“The commercial situation between China and the United States, which imposed taxes on Chinese products, as well as the saturation of containers and expensive transportation to Latin America, made the August exhibition surprisingly full,” explained Quiñones Cornejo.
The most important exhibition of the furniture sector in the country, expects to receive 16,000 visitors, which will leave the city an economic benefit of 800 million pesos, but since there are two editions of this fair per year, the annual benefit for the capital of Jalisco in hotels, restaurants, taxis and other services, amounts to 1,200 million pesos.
