Portuguese furniture exports could hit record in 2022

The president of the Portuguese Furniture and Wood Products Association (AIMMP) says that exports of Portuguese products are likely to beat the record seen in 2019 by the end of this year.

With an promotional campaign aimed at the US and Canada markets set for 2022, Vítor Poças told Lusa: “This year we have recovered the 12% losses that we suffered in 2020” while recalling the historic maximum of €2.5Bn in exports in 2019.
As to this year, the board president of the AIMMP said numbers to September were positive and the “sector is growing” with exports up 19% in like-for-like terms.
In September of this year, the value of exports stood at €1.9Bn. “This means that we are just €2.7 million below the figures for September 2019”, he said.
Vítor Poças says the numbers so far are “fantastic” given that in 2021 there were still some restrictions and contingencies caused by Covid.
“Being already at €2.7Bn in September regarding the same period in 2019, which was a record year to date, I think is great news”, he said.
The AIMMP president believes that the sector will either equal or even beat this record by the end of the year.
“If everything keeps on track, we’ll exceed the numbers we had in 2019 which we will be so happy with,” he added.
In terms of internationalisation projects, Vítor Poças says that the current two campaigns will be maintained – Inter Wood & Furniture (which are joint projects) and ‘Design the Best of Portugal’.
Furthermore, the association intends to carry out aggressive marketing in the United States and Canada in the same way it did in the Middle East.