“During the economic crisis, the purchasing power of Romanians shrank a lot and companies had to go abroad. The percentage of exports in the total production rose from 56% in 2008 to 86% at the moment,” Aurica Sereny, chairperson of the Romanian Furniture Manufacturers Association (APMR), told ZF.
“The furniture made in Romania is a quality, solid wood furniture, which is why manufacturers focused on exports because they saw they were doing well and other markets were not as affected by the crisis.”
The largest Romanian exporter in 2016 was Aramis invest in Baia Mare, a company held by Vladimir Iacob and Marius Selescu. Second leading furniture exporter was Maramures-based Taparo, another entrepreneurial company and third was Ecolor held by Sweden’s Gyllensvaans Mabler.
Furniture exports increased by 96% in 2008-2016 or almost EUR1.1 billion, while imports rose only 20% or EUR100 million, APMR said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)