On September 11, during the DREMA trade fair in Poznań, the furniture industry met for the 9th time at the National Furniture Congress. The discussion focused primarily on the market of wood raw materials, because today it is precisely wood problems that keep Polish entrepreneurs awake at night.
The National Furniture Congress 'Polish furniture - competitive Poland' is organised every year by the National Chamber of Commerce of Furniture Manufacturers, with the support of the MTP Group, the DREMA trade fair and the company Promedia Jerzy Osika. The event is a valuable platform for the exchange of experiences, as well as an arena for developing the best solutions for entrepreneurs and the entire industry.
This time, representatives of not only the furniture industry, but the entire wood industry, including sawmills, plywood, boards, construction joinery, paper, representatives of organizations and associations, as well as the State Forests, came to Poznań. As it turns out, only joint actions provide a chance to improve the functioning and, as a result, the competitiveness of the Polish wood and furniture industry.
On behalf of Jan Szynaka, president of the Polish Chamber of Commerce of Furniture Manufacturers, the meeting participants were welcomed by Jarosław Michniuk, member of the Chamber Council and CEO of Paged.
'The wood industry has prospects, but it also has challenges.' These are the words that Jarosław Michniuk began the Congress with. 'Competition is growing in the world, and our pace of development is slowing down. While the development of other countries is independent of the Polish state and we must accept it with humility, we have an impact on other areas. This certainly applies to obtaining our main raw material, i.e. wood. For the last three years, the prices of wood raw material in Poland have been the highest in Europe, which I say with full responsibility in the presence of representatives of the State Forests.'
He continued, 'In the face of these challenges, it is difficult to be optimistic. Especially since analysts have been sounding the alarm about the deteriorating results of the furniture and wood industry for some time now. Can we count on an improvement in the situation in the near future?'
Tomasz Wiktorski from B+R Studio attempted to answer this question. The most important is the clear downward trend that has been noted for two years. As the expert from B+R Studio points out, the future will largely depend on the wood market. 'We need stability and competitive operating conditions. I appeal to the government - we expect competitive energy costs, access to raw materials, wise forest management and immigration policy. The wood and furniture sector has many challenges and expects friendly regulations, not obstacles in its way.'
The statistical data was supplemented by a lecture entitled 'Wood and furniture industry. Current development trends and prospects for 2025', delivered by Krzysztof Mrówczyński, an expert from Bank PEKAO SA.
The participants of the debate entitled 'The situation of the furniture and wood industry - prospects for the coming years' could sign under Tomasz Wiktorski's appeal. The speakers - Piotr Poziomski, president of the Polish Chamber of Commerce of the Wood Industry; Bartosz Bezubik, president of the board of Biaform, vice president of the Association of Producers of Wood-Based Boards in Poland; Janusz Turski, general director of the Association of Polish Papermakers and Tomasz Wiktorski, owner of B+R Studio - agree that stable access to raw materials is the basis for the functioning of the wood industry. They expect fair and transparent rules for the sale of wood that will favour and support the wood industry in Poland.
According to representatives of the furniture and wood industry, the decisions of the Ministry of Climate and Environment regarding forest management may mean huge losses, and the list of challenges and threats regarding the supply of raw materials to the wood industry is very long, which was discussed during the next panel entitled 'Prospects for the supply of raw wood to the wood industry: challenges and threats', in which Jerzy Majewski, member of the supervisory board of MM Kwidzyn; Waldemar Zawiślak, member of the management board, sales director of Egger Biskupiec; Jarosław Michniuk, CEO Paged took part. They are aware that the exclusion of 20% of forests from logging, referred to in the controversial January moratorium, is an election demand of the ruling coalition and it will be difficult to give it up.
In the face of all these problems in the industry, a positive element has emerged, namely the return to forest management certification. The benefits of certification are enormous and go far beyond the sphere of ecology, as discussed during the panel entitled 'What benefits does forest management certification provide to nature, forest managers, the timber industry and society?'
Both Marek Rzońca, FSC Forestry Coordinator, and Krzysztof Jodłowski, Chairman of the PEFC Council, emphasized that in Poland forest management is conducted in three areas: social, economic and natural. This is consistent with the mission of certification organizations. In order to ensure that the discussion on certification is not one-sided, representatives of companies were also invited to participate, Janusz Komurkiewicz, Member of the Board for Marketing at Fakro, and Maciej Zdzieborski, Raw Material Developer at IKEA Purchasing, who admitted that certification systems are key to their raw material policy.
During all the discussion panels, the problem of the image of the wood industry was presented, which has, to put it mildly, slightly declined in recent months. The remedy for this is education of society and a reliable and coherent message from the entire industry. This issue was addressed by the speakers of the last discussion panel, which took place during the 9th National Furniture Congress: Agnieszka Chmielewska, marketing specialist at Complet Furniture, and Natalia Wysocka representing the Wood Industry Protest.
The culmination of the Furniture Congress was the presentation of the Furniture Ambassador statuettes, which are awarded by the Polish Chamber of Commerce of Furniture Manufacturers to individuals and companies that have contributed in a special way to the development of the furniture industry. The winners of this year's edition were: Joanna Kucharska from the MTP Group, Maciej Zdzieborski from IKEA Purchasing and Andrzej Półrolniczak, who received the Furniture Ambassador for the DREMA trade fair.
More information:
The Polish Chamber of Furniture Manufacturers
www.oigpm.org.pl