20% drop in 2024 exports seen for PH furniture, handicraft

A local trade association of exporters is expecting exports revenues from consumer durables such as furniture and handicrafts to end up lower by $100 million or around a fifth this year, citing local hurdles and foreign competition.

Robert M. Young, president of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (Fobap), said they have estimated that their exports of hard goods will reach $400 million in 2024, which is 20 percent lower than the $500 million they recorded last year.

“To add, hard goods declined some 15 percent to 20 percent in 2023. Some of the Philippine production orders were transferred to Indonesia,” Young said in a message sent to the Inquirer.

The Fobap official added that three of their members have re-positioned almost half of their durable goods production to Indonesia.

He cited higher production costs and lack of raw materials, as well as structural challenges in the Philippines as the main reasons for the shift.

Young added that these have caused their projections to be “not as promising” this year, noting that a good volume of the order for these goods have been diverted to other countries which also have the capacity to manufacture the same products.

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Philippine exports in 2024 are projected to fall short of the government and industry target of $143.4 billion, with both parties now planning to set a new goal reflecting the changes in the global market.

In 2023, the local export industry also fell short of the $126.8 billion target set under the updated Philippine Export Development Plan launched mid-June of last year, but still managed to reach record-high levels by breaching the $100-billion mark. INQ