If taxes and taxes are increased, many SMEs will insolvent, large companies will relocate their production in other countries, the Romanian furniture industry will undergo an irreversible loss of competitiveness, say the representatives of the Association of Mobile Manufacturers in Romania-APMR. «We risk closing some factories, job loss and reducing exports, affecting the medium and long -term state budget,» they add. In fact, already increasing costs with raw materials, energy, transport and labor drastically reduced profit margins, which were between 2 and 5%, say furniture manufacturers. «The frequent changes in tax policies have created uncertainty in financial planning. The tax increase cannot be absorbed without cutting from salaries, investments or even personal.» The figures show that the value of the furniture production decreased from 2016 to 2024 by 35%, due to the cost increase. Over 90% of furniture production is thus exported that local producers play mainly on an international market dominated by countries that have much lower production costs. “The Romanian companies compete directly with producers from Poland (which has a more stable fiscal environment and coherent economic policies), in Vietnam and China (where the production costs are much lower and the state consistently subsidizes the industry), Turkey (which aggressively supports exports). And the American protectionist measures, ”say the representatives of the Association of Mobile Producers in Romania. APMR is the representative employer organization of the Romanian furniture industry and wooden products. It has 373 member companies, of which 232 are furniture and design producers. They add that the furniture industry in Romania suffers from a systemic crisis, and to recover investments in vocational education, encourage innovation directly in producing companies, clear policies to support the processing industry – because it brings added value – measures to increase the competitiveness of the furniture industry, access to cheap energy, at least European, a coherent strategy of promoting the «Romanian furniture» brand externally, coordinating and monitoring at an adequate level of authority of the policies to support the processing industry and, in particular, of the processing industries with the highest contribution to the country's commercial balance. The Romanian furniture industry is predominantly oriented towards export, culminating in the years before the pandemic with an annual currency contribution of 1.5 billion euros in the commercial balance of Romania, proving that it is a strategic sector for Romania, according to the data transmitted by the Association of Mobile Manufacturers in Romania – APMR. It has a majority domestic capital, with added value in production of 55%, with almost 200,000 employees directly and in related sectors. In recent years it has been confronted with great challenges, so the value of industrial production has registered a 35% decrease in 2024, compared to 2016. With an annual figure of 2.5 billion euros, Romania is one of the largest furniture exporters in Europe, having customers in over 120 countries.
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