According to the latest data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce, in August, seasonally adjusted sales of furniture and household goods in the United States reached $11.783 billion, down 1.3% from $11.936 billion in July and $11.971 billion in August last year. It fell 1.6% year-on-year and was one of the worst-performing retail sectors tracked by the government. However, combined with previous statistics, from January to August 2022, the sales of furniture and household goods in the United States reached 96.333 billion US dollars, an increase of 1.49% from the 94.923 billion US dollars in the same period last year.

On September 15, the Department of Circulation Industry Development of the Ministry of Commerce and the China Building Materials Circulation Association released the prosperity index (BHI) of building materials and home furnishing terminal stores in August. Data show that the National Building Materials and Home Furnishing Prosperity Index BHI was 101.02 in August, down 24.74 points year-on-year. The sales of building materials and home furnishing stores above designated size in August were 86.295 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.65%; the cumulative sales from January to August in 2022 were 846.661 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.59%.

Recently, Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that from October 15, Vietnam will impose a 21.4% anti-dumping duty on chairs imported from China and a 35.2% anti-dumping duty on tables for a period of 4 months. Vietnamese authorities said that the quantity of table and chair products imported from China was significantly higher than the domestic production and sales volume in Vietnam, causing a serious impact on the Vietnamese furniture manufacturing industry. However, table and chair products made entirely of plastic materials and made entirely or at least in a major part of rattan, wicker, bamboo or similar materials are not covered by the provisional anti-dumping duties.

According to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business, U.S. manufacturing economic activity rose in September and the overall economy posted its 28th straight month of growth, but purchasing managers for overall manufacturing The index (PMI) fell to its lowest level since May 2020, and the furniture industry saw the biggest drop in orders. Seven manufacturing industries reported a contraction in orders in September. Among them, the furniture and related products industry saw the largest contraction in orders, followed by the textile industry, wood products industry, printing and related activities industry, paper products industry, chemicals industry, and metal products industry.

Recently, Indonesian furniture and interior design startup Fabelio has been declared bankrupt by the court, and it will hold its first creditor meeting on October 17. Currently, Fabelio owes wages to employees and suppliers. It is understood that Fabelio, established in 2015, mainly provides Indonesian customers with locally produced and imported furniture through an omni-channel model, and provides interior design consulting services to customers from hotels and restaurants. By the end of 2020, Fabelio had received about $19 million in funding. However, Fabelio said that since 2021, the company's financial situation is very bad due to the Covid-19 pandemic and delays in investor funding.

On October 12, the Malaysian Department of Statistics released the latest manufacturing industry data. The country's manufacturing sales value in August reached 157.4 billion ringgits, an increase of 24.4%. Among them, the manufacturing of wood, furniture, paper products and printing industries increased by 4.9% year-on-year. The value of sales in Malaysia's manufacturing sector jumped 17.4% to RM1.16 trillion in the January-August period.

On October 15, information jointly released by the Ministry of Commerce's Circulation Industry Development Department and China Building Materials Circulation Association showed that the sales of building materials and home furnishing stores above designated size in September were 99.213 billion yuan, up 14.97% month-on-month and down 15.30% year-on-year; 2022 The cumulative sales from January to September was 945.874 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.35%. According to the Industry Research Department of China Building Materials Circulation Association, in September, as the high temperature weather subsided, the national building materials and home furnishing market entered the traditional peak sales season, but the epidemic spread in some areas, and the prevention and control efforts were intensified. The market did not appear, and the BHI rose less than expected.

Recently, the American Retail Federation released the latest retail data. After seasonal adjustment, the retail sales of furniture in the United States fell by 0.7% month-on-month in September, while the unadjusted data increased by 1.5% year-on-year. Overall retail sales in the first nine months of this year increased by 7.2% year-on-year. The retail sales of building materials and gardening supplies fell by 0.4% month-on-month and increased by 9.2% year-on-year.

Recently, Big Lots, the largest clearance retailer in the United States, and retail giant Conn's have released second-quarter earnings reports, and their performance has declined. In the second quarter ended July 30, Big Lots posted a net loss of $84.2 million, or $2.91 per share. The result included an after-tax charge of $18.1 million related to impairment of store assets. Excluding this charge, the adjusted net loss was $66 million, or $2.28 per share. The net profit for the same period in 2021 was $37.7 million, or $1.09 per diluted share. Net sales for the second quarter were $1.35 billion, down 7.6% from $1.46 billion in the year-ago quarter and up 7.5% from the same period in 2019. Company executives pointed out that the main reason for the decline in sales compared to last year was a 9.2% drop in comparable sales. Three-year comparable sales growth was 3.6% in the second quarter, up slightly from 1.9% in the first quarter. Bruce Thorn, president and CEO of Big Lots, noted that the numbers were in line with expected financial guidance and that Big Lots will continue to work hard to increase product value. He said: "I would like to thank my colleagues in the company for defying the challenges in the second quarter and continuing to provide customers with a high-quality shopping experience, again achieving a top-tier Net Promoter Score of over 80%. Thanks to the excellent work of the team, we are as expected. quarterly financial guidance. We tightly controlled our costs, made great progress in repositioning our product categories towards lower price points, and took important steps to improve our balance sheet and secure funding Liquidity. We also reduced our inventory significantly compared to the first quarter, which puts us on track to rationalize the size of our inventory by the fourth quarter. Going forward, we will continue to focus on providing customers with products with excellent value, and we will Continue to manage the business prudently as we work to grow the company stronger and deliver on our commitments to our customers, partners and shareholders." By reducing inventory appropriately, Big lot will bring more transactions to customers, says Bruce Thorne. Many clients are currently strained by inflation and are starting to reduce trading volumes. For the third-quarter results, Big Lots expects that as the third-quarter promotional activities continue, the decline rate from the same period last year is expected to fall into the low double-digit range, resulting in a quarterly gross profit margin of about 35%. Selling and administrative expenses will grow in the low single digits compared to 2021. Given the broad and uncertain nature of the results, Big Lots is not currently providing EPS guidance. Another retail giant, Conn's, saw a steeper decline, with second-quarter net income of just $2.1 million, or 9 cents per diluted share, down from $37 million, or $1.22 per share, a year earlier. 94.2%! Net sales for the quarter were do...

Recently, five members of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted unanimously to maintain the current U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made wooden furniture. The decision is part of a tariff review process that requires reconsideration of tariff settings every five years. The United States began imposing tariffs on Chinese-made wooden furniture in 2005, when Americans believed that the move "saved American furniture companies." "Revocation of existing anti-dumping tariff orders on imports of wooden bedroom furniture from China could result in the continuation or recurrence of substantial harm within a reasonably foreseeable period," the U.S. International Trade Commission said. U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made wooden furniture began in 2005, when furniture maker John Bassett III tried to save the local furniture industry from cheap Chinese imports. John Bassett III ran the Vaughan-Bassett Family Company in Virginia and North Carolina. The Vaughan Bassett Furniture Company was founded in 1919 and has a history of over a century. All of the company's furniture is made in the United States by American employees, and it is now the largest manufacturer of wooden adult bedroom furniture in the United States. The Alliance for American Manufacturing noted: "Bassett Furniture has spent years trying to prove that Chinese companies stole his company's designs and used a series of unfair trade practices to weaken his market position." What happened to Vaughan Bassett Furniture is common to U.S. manufacturers, it’s just that most of the time, they don’t end up surviving. The U.S. lost about 3.7 million jobs between 2001 and 2018, which can be attributed to Because of our trade deficit with China. The U.S. furniture industry has been hit especially hard; from 2000 to 2002, Chinese furniture imports grew 121 percent, and by 2003, U.S. furniture manufacturing lost 73,000 jobs.” In 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond detailed in a report that from 1999 to 2009, North Carolina’s furniture industry lost half of its value due to the U.S. free trade policy toward China. above jobs. The report also noted that the U.S.-China Bilateral WTO Agreement, signed in November 1999, lowered U.S. tariff barriers and opened the door for China to join the WTO. "The increase in Chinese imports has proven to have a significant impact on U.S. manufacturing employment, particularly in furniture manufacturing in North Carolina." North Carolina is located in the center of the East Coast of the United States and is the heartland of the American furniture industry. There are the world's largest High Point Home Furnishings Fair, the world's largest furniture store Furnitureland South and the largest furniture manufacturer Ashley Furniture. It is an important origin of many woods such as boxwood and southern pine. The strategic location and unique natural resources have helped North Carolina build the largest furniture manufacturing industry in the United States. There are more than 3...

The latest news from home micro-news: Previously, the century-old French high-end furniture brand Roche Bobois updated its half-year performance report. The total sales in the first half of 2022 reached 203 million euros (about 1.4 billion yuan), an increase of 27.2% over the same period last year. %, setting a record for the best half-year turnover! Much of this growth is due to Rochburg's surge in sales in the UK market. Half-yearly sales in its UK market totaled 11.5 million euros, up 76.4% from 2021. Home Micro News previously reported that "The French century-old brand Rochburg performed well in the first half of the year, and UK sales soared by 76%! ", introduced its outstanding performance in the UK market in the first half of the year. Commenting on its results, Rochburg said: "It is worth noting that the overall economic environment this year has not been particularly favourable. But our group still delivered very good business results in the first half of 2022, again demonstrating the strength of its positioning The strength and the strong appeal of the brand.” In addition to the surprising performance of the UK market, the performance of the US/Canada market is also very bright, which is also the main contributor to Rochburg's half-year revenue growth. According to the semi-annual trading record, Rochburg's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 52.8% to 47.9 million euros from 31.4 million euros in 2021, and net profit increased by 124.5 million euros from 9 million euros in 2021 % to 20.1 million euros. This outperformance was driven by higher EBITDA in the US/Canada market (29.1% of Rochburg's EBITDA margin in H1 2022), favored by exchange rate effects . "The U.S./Canada region has become a major contributor to the group's revenue and consolidated EBITDA," Rochburg said. "We have also just announced our strategic objective to acquire Atlanta by exercising its unilateral option to acquire ), Houston and Dallas to strengthen its presence in the U.S. market. We expect this move to add value to the group from next year onwards.” “Given the excellent performance in the first half of 2022, combined with the level of retail sales and the overall order backlog (€178 million as of June 30, 2022), we are targeting a total revenue of more than €385 million, EBITDA, for fiscal 2022 Strong growth in earnings before amortization," Rochburg added.

U.S. manufacturing remains the weakest sector since the pandemic. The Institute for Supply Management's August index showed manufacturing growth at 52.8%, unchanged from the previous month and the lowest level since June 2020. Compared to July, manufacturers' output fell 3% and consumer prices fell 7.5% (the lowest level since June 2020). The number of new orders in the manufacturing sector rose 3.3% and employment rose 4.4%. "U.S. manufacturing continues to grow at a similar rate to the previous two months, with new order rates starting to return to growth and supplier deliveries remaining at 100 percent," said Timothy R. Fiore, president of the Institute for Supply Management. Appropriate level of tension and prices are softening again, reflecting the trend of balanced supply and demand.” “The pace of price increases slowed sharply in August, coupled with slowing lead times, should bring buyers back into the market, boosting order volumes. The market remains optimistic about demand, with cautious versus optimistic The ratio was 1:5. Our panelists remained nervous about the weakening economy, with 18% pointing to concerns about shrinking orders in their comments. 12% raised concerns about increasing inventories across the supply chain growing concerns," added Timothy Fiore. As before, compared with the other 17 manufacturing industries, the performance of the furniture industry in August was still unsatisfactory. The furniture and wood products industries saw the largest decline in new orders and were the only two industries to report high levels of customer inventories. At the same time, the furniture industry was also one of eight industries reporting an increase in raw material prices compared to July. On the positive side, however, suppliers in the furniture and wood products industry saw faster deliveries compared to June, which also improved from May. The industry has seen a reduction in overstock since July, and no changes in product productivity and employee employment, which may be a good sign since both indicators fell sharply in May.