Iran's cooperation opportunities with other countries:
Iranian market has always collaborated with neighboring countries and the world in various fields.
Today, with the widening of communication and social space in the globe, diverse products are available for use by the international community. In the meantime, Iranian furniture industry activity is light the space ahead is promising countless opportunities for the future not only for marketing in Iran but also for global marketing.
The development of cooperation between industry and the university as well as the specialization of design trends creates high-quality products in order to bring the beautiful and magnificent works of Iranian civilization and art in the modern furniture and decoration industry to Iranian market and all other markets in the world. These products can well communicate with the world and provide new ways to live more comfortably. Products that are similar to Iranian craft and fine arts are available for global costumers out of Iranian market.
The annual turnover of more than 100 trillion Rials of this industry also indicates the importance and position of this industry among the Iranian market's industries and the disadvantageous effects of this disregard. The furniture industry or the production of wooden artifacts from past decades has always been suggested by the United Nations Economic Development and Cooperation Organization (IEC) to developing countries as an example of an early return chain industry that could lead to countries' economic development. The industry, while implementing a significant part of the country's non-oil export development strategy and earning significant foreign exchange earnings, can help the government solve the most pressing problem of the community, namely unemployment.
Studies over the past decade have shown that Iran's sofa exports have grown from 5% to over 15%, and this trend is increasingly indicative of the development and enhancement of the quality and beauty of furniture products out of Iranian market.
According to the Iranian Statistics Center, there are about 226 industrial units manufacturing furniture with about 10,000 people practicing their work for marketing in Iran. Also according to the reports of the Union of Drudgaran of Tehran, there are 1573 licensed workshops in the field of wood industry in Tehran, and about 117,000 people are working in these workshops.
According to research, 20% of modern furniture consumption in Iranian market is available to domestic producers and the remaining 80% is supplied through legal and illegal imports. Although in Iran, quality of some manufactured products is not up to date, investment in the wood industry of Iran has a clear and hopeful perspective.
Vacancies and weakness in the furniture industry of Iranian market
Raw material:
1. High dependence on other industries to supply raw materials
2. Providing wooden raw materials in accordance with international standards
3. High Customs Raw Material Required by the Industry
4. High prices of raw materials in the country
5. Problems related to paying foreign suppliers
6. The shortage of raw material manufacturing industries
Technology:
1. Technical and technological dependence abroad
2. Research and development weakness in the furniture industry
3. Failure to use up-to-date standards for the production of products
4. Restrictions on the association of furniture industry with universities and research centers
Production Capacity:
1. Uneven and low-quality growth of the industry
2. Lack of infrastructure and capacities in the industry
3. The number of industrial manufacturers
4. Lack of integrity as well as non-integration of small workshops to increase industry's competitive ability
5. Low production capacity of furniture manufacturing workshops
Sale market:
1. Unawareness of target markets
2. The powerful presence of neighboring rivals and the globes
3. The lack of familiarity with the global market for the furniture industry for marketing in Iran and the weakness of the information system
The Iranian furniture industry is currently technology-centric. To succeed in producing and possibly export, there should be a set of internal and external conditions that are not currently available. The threat is that the Iranian furniture industry is losing its competitive advantage on a scale with foreign furniture, and the opportunity, the proximity to the Russian forests as the most important source of raw material supplies and possibly the transfer of the site to produce some of the furniture industry's interior of this Forests are similar to Turkey and close to consumer markets in the Arabian countries.
Now, craftsmen have problems in supplying raw materials, so that the supply problems of raw materials such as MDF and raw wood, the technology needed to produce which it is not available internally. For this reason, this part of the Iranian industry can be improved in effective communication with the artisans of other countries and this vacuum will be eliminated in the country.
Which countries buy Iranian sofas?
Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and the UAE, are the main Iranian furniture markets, but the amount of furniture exports has fallen by about half in the last five years. Meanwhile, eight percent of our country's employment lies in this industry.
According to the data provided by the Trade Development Organization, last year, Iran exported 11 million dollars of Iranian furniture to Iraq, with 55.7 percent of Iran's export furniture. Subsequently, Syria imported 13 percent of Iran's exports to the region with $ 2 million worth of imports, and Afghanistan contributes about 10 percent of Iran's sofa exports to about $ 2 million.
The United Arab Emirates also imports $ 1.6 million of Iranian furniture as the fourth target market for this sector and accounts for seven percent of Iranian market's total exports.
Exports of furniture to these countries increased relative to the previous year, according to Trade Development Organization statistics. Of course, if we consider exports to this sector in a five-year period, the furniture industry has grown from $ 30 million in 2012 to 16 million in 2017.
Global statistics also show that China, Germany and Italy are the largest exporters of furniture in the world, accounting for 31 percent of China's total exports of furniture to China. The Netherlands, the United States and Mexico are other major exporters of furniture throughout the world.
Currently, about 60,000 industrial and guild units are engaged in the production and supply of various types of furniture in Iranian market. Overall, it can be said that eight percent of the country's employment is related to this sector. The national furniture market value is estimated at $ 12 billion a year, and its current production capacity is estimated at more than $ 15 billion a year.