World Furniture - International Market Review by CSIL nr. 63 - September 2014

www.worldfurnitureonline.com
World
Furniture
International Markets Review
63 – September 2014 – Year 16
SPECIAL REPORT
WORKSPACE
FOCUS ON
MATERIALS
LIGHTING
BEDDING
INSIDE
CHINA, EUROPE, UNITED STATES
GLOBAL MARKET FOR UPHOLSTERY
STRONG EXPORTER VIETNAM

WORLD FURNITURE - International Market Review
About Us
World Furniture – International Market Review is a quarterly
review of economic information and market analysis. This magazine
offers contributions on international furniture and furnishing
markets, demand and supply, retail and consumption, business
trade country profiles trade, profiles, competitive systems, international events,
fairs and exhibitions.
Print issue is mailed to a selected target of 2000 manufacturers and
suppliers in the world's main producing, exporting and consuming
countries. World Furniture is also circulated at major international
sector fairs.
World Furniture – International Market Review is published by
CSIL, Centre for Industrial Study, an independent research and
consulting company specialized in applied economic research,
EDITORIAL
PROGRAMME 2015
World Furniture
No. 65/March 2015
World Furniture
No. 66/June 2015
evaluation of public investment projects, infrastructure project
appraisal, support to development programs and policies, market
analysis and SMEs economics founded in Milan (Italy) in 1980.
World Furniture
No. 67/September 2015
World Furniture
No. 68/December 2015
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10 EDITORIAL
The spark of a shared strategy
by the Editor
10 POINT OF VIEW
Crossroads
by Aurelio Volpe
11 COUNTRIES
Vietnam, second largest furniture
exporter in Asia
by Alessandra Tracogna
SPECIAL REPORT
WORKSPACE
13 STUDIES
The European market for office
furniture
by Mauro Spinelli
15 TRENDS
Review from NeoCon Chicago
by John Sacks
17 R & D
The Italian Design of Babini Office
wins ‘Best of Neocon’
18 EVENT
Clerkenwell Design Week
by Paola Govoni
FOCUS
MATERIALS
20 RESINS
VONDOM at Vincci Gala Hotel
21 PROJECTS
Meta Nouveau, the table in the
spotlight
22 FINISH FOILS
Schattdecor’s new ‘Decor
Selection’ at IWF Atlanta
23 FITTINGS
CookingAGENT makes it fun
to be tidy
24 R & D
Lectra. One day in the future
by Giovanna Castellina
26 MARKETS
Highlights on the global market
for upholstered furniture
27 PANELS
EPF Annual General Meeting
in Bruges
FOCUS
LIGHTING
29 STUDIES
The European market for lighting
fixtures
by Jessica Catalano
31 MARKETS
U.S. lighting fixtures market
by Aurelio Volpe
33 MARKETS
Booming market for lighting
fixtures in China
by Mauro Spinelli
FOCUS
BEDDING
35 STUDIES
The world mattress industry
by Sylvia Weichenberger
37 MARKETS
2014 U.S. mattress trends: tech
talk,temperature and fashion fuel
bedding market
by Barbara Nelles and Mary Best
39 FAIRS
All about sleep at imm cologne
by Sylvia Weichenbergert
40 RETAIL
Where to buy in...
43 PREVIEW
SICAM still on the rise
44 FAIRS CALENDAR 2014
World
Furniture
International Markets Review
Publisher
CSIL
Centre for Industrial Studies
15, Corso Monforte
I-20122 Milano
tel. 0039 02 796630
fax 0039 02 780703
www.csilmilano.com
Editor
Paola Govoni
govoni@csilmilano.com
Collaborators to this issue:
Mary Best
Giovanna Castellina
Jessica Catalano
Paola Govoni
Barbara Nelles
John Sacks
Mauro Spinelli
Alessandra Tracogna
Aurelio Volpe
Sylvia Weichenberger
Graphic Design
backup8
Printer
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I-24060 Costa di Mezzate (Bergamo)
Annual subscription 2014
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Copyright CSIL
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may
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consent of the publisher.
CONTENTS

EDITORIAL
THE SPARK
OF A SHARED STRATEGY
foreign markets with a shared strategy
of marketing and promotion, capable to
lead to mutual benefits in terms of cor-porate
image and resulting in an overall
better performance in terms of busi-ness.
Although affected by the Great Crisis,
the incidence of export of Italian furni-ture
and furnishings on total sales is
still on the rise, passing from 60,9% in
2012 to 63,8% in 2013. Also in the 1Q
of 2014, Italian furniture exports could
increase by +2,8% in value. (Source:
Assarredo)
In this issue of the review we are talking
of major international market areas like
by Paola Govoni
Editor
Western Europe, North America, and
China.
The Special Report is dedicated to the
Workspace and highlights on office fur-niture
market stories in Europe and the
United States. This issue is focusing on
Materials, Lighting Fixtures (with mar-ket
ovierviews in Europe, US and
China) and Bedding (with a closer look
at the world mattress industry and the
U.S. mattress trends for 2014).
Special contributions from Chicago,
London, Bordeaux, Bruges, Las Vegas
and Guangzhou are also included.
Enjoy it!
POINT OF VIEW
The Annual Meeting of Assarredo
(Association of Italian Furniture and
Furnishings Manufacturers) held in
Como last July, witnessed the renewal
of a strategic alliance among three
Italy’s leading manufacturing sectors.
Fashion, Food and Furniture are recog-nised
trendsetters on the global mar-kets
and, although in different ways
and through diverse channels, they are
expression of high quality, innovative
and attractive lifestyle products, and
continue to spark Italian industry’s suc-cessful
impact on a world scale.
Most Italian players are increasingly
aware of the importance to approach
by Aurelio Volpe
CSIL International
Market Research
Furniture retail in Europe seems to have
an alternative to IKEA. After the acquisi-tions
of Conforama three years ago,
South African Group Steinhoff, head-quartered
in Johannesburg, became
the second largest furniture retailer in
France, following the Swedish giant. At
that time, Conforama recorded Euro
3.3 billion sales and belonged to the
French group PPR SA (luxury-good
brand now renamed Kering SA) owned
by Francois-Henri Pinault, who sold it to
Steinhoff for Euro 1.62 billion, including
liabilities.
Steinhoff acquired the Austrian furniture
retailer Kika-Leiner in the second half of
2013 for Euro 500 million. Kika-Leiner
CROSSROADS
Group is one of the leading furniture
retail companies in Europe, with 7500
employees, 73 stores located in Central
and Eastern Europe (50 of which in
Austria), and yearly net sales of approx-imately
Euro 1.2 billion.
International turnover for Steinhoff is in
the range of Euro 4 billion for the first
half year 2014, including 2.7 billion
generated from furniture and household
goods. Steinhoff also manufactures and
sells furniture at the wholesale level in
Europe and provides logistics, supply
chain management and warehousing
services for another Euro 1.2 billion.
Today’s retail breakdown is: 36%
France, 43% German speaking area,
9% UK, 8% Africa, 4% Asia Pacific.
Approximately Euro 600 million in the
first half of the year came from South
Africa.
World is changing fast. A few months
ago, a couple of Italian Design ‘jewels’
like Cassina and Poltrona Frau were
sold on for around Euro 240 million to
US office furniture giant Haworth. The
‘historical’ brand Indesit, headquartered
in Fabriano, (appliances made in Italy,
now manufacturing plants also in the
UK, France and Russia) has been sold
(66,8%) to the American Whirlpool for a
total price of Euro 758 million. OPA is
expected for the remaining 33%.
10 WF - September 2014 www.worldfurnitureonline.com

COUNTRIES
VIETNAM, SECOND
LARGEST FURNITURE
EXPORTER IN ASIA
major problem for timber
businesses.
The country is also
forced to import about
half of its domestic mar-ket’s
requirements for
wood-based panels and
many wood species (US
and European hard-wood,
radiate pine from
New Zealand and Chile,
rubberwood from
Malaysia and Laos).
MDF imports also
increased noticeably,
confirming the gradual
movement from solid
wood outdoor furniture
production to wood-based
panel furniture for
indoor.
EXPORT LED GROWTH
Vietnam is the largest furniture exporter in
South East Asia, the 2nd largest furniture
exporter in Asia after China, and the 6th
largest furniture exporter at a world level,
according to CSIL rankings. Exports have
been the major driver of the country’s fur-niture
industry, and they accounted for
over 80% of the total output in 2013.
Vietnam boasts nine seaports, providing
easy access to international shipping
lines.
As already mentioned, furniture exports
increased from US$ 850 million a decade
ago to US$ 5 billion in 2013. Showing
high resilience to global recession,
Vietnamese exporters recorded a remark-able
20% increase in 2010, a moderate
growth (+4%) in 2011 and a new fast
growth in 2012 (+16%), confirmed in
2013, according to preliminary data.
CSIL Country Analysis and Forecasts
ietnam was one of the most
dynamic countries in the last
decade in terms of furniture pro-duction
and growth in exports.
V
Factors underlying this success included
the increasing global demand for lower
cost furniture and the global sourcing pol-icy
of large-scale retailers (e.g. IKEA),
WTO membership, the country’s political
and macro-economic stability, low labour
and production costs, quality craftsman-ship,
a developing infrastructure system
and easy access to global shipping.
Vietnam has become an attractive sourc-ing
destination, and a preferred produc-tion
centre for furniture in South East Asia,
attracting regional and overseas invest-ments.
Although total Vietnamese furniture pro-duction
is modest compared to Chinese
production, Vietnam is an outstanding and
fast growing furniture producer in Asia.
CSIL ranks the country as the 17th largest
furniture producer at a world level.
Furniture production grew significantly
from US$ 1 billion in 2003 to US$ 5.9 bil-lion
in 2013, while exports increased from
US$ 850 million in 2003 to US$ 5 billion
in 2013.
However, the rapid growth in production
and exports did not solve some of the dif-ficulties
the wood industry is facing: short-age
of raw materials, rising input costs and
the low added value of the products man-ufactured.
In addition, while having to
cope with increasing prices for imported
raw materials, combined with banks’ high
interest rates, the businesses also have to
face fierce competition at home from
Chinese firms, which are stepping up pur-chases
of raw materials. Besides the chal-lenges
of rising inflation and a volatile
economy, soaring input costs are also a
EXPORT DESTINATIONS
Vietnamese wood products are exported
to 120 countries. With almost 50% share
in 2012, the United States was by far the
largest foreign market with an annual aver-age
rate of growth of 14% over the 2007-
2012 period.
Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany
follow, with shares of 11%, 6% and 5%,
respectively. Vietnam’s performance on
the Japanese market was satisfactory,
even during the crisis, whereas trade with
Europe was increasing at a lower rate.
Asian markets absorb almost 20% of total
furniture exports and they are proving to be
more and more attractive to Vietnamese
companies.
Most dynamic Vietnamese companies are
trying to redirect flows towards emerging
markets like Russia, India and Central
Asia.
www.worldfurnitureonline.com September 2014 - WF 11

COUNTRIES
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
The ‘Vietnam Furniture Outlook’ report
(published by CSIL in February 2014)
offers an overview of the local furniture
industry and market.
Data on production, consumption,
imports and exports are provided, as
well as forecasts, macroeconomic and
business climate indicators, maps and
detailed trade statistics.
Short profiles of furniture market key
players are also included.
The report is available for purchase and
immediate download at:
New opportunities come from many cus-tomers
in Russia and India who are eyeing
Vietnamese wooden items and placing
orders for sample products. Moreover, if
negotiations on the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) agreement succeed,
more Latin American countries such as
Chile and Peru will come to Vietnam to
inspect the local wood processing indus-try.
Looking at the breakdown of exported fur-niture,
bedroom furniture is the most
exported item, accounting for around one
third of total furniture exports, with the
United States alone absorbing 78% of the
total. Non-upholstered seats account for
12% of exports and another 30% is main-ly
garden furniture and occasional furni-ture.
A PROMISING DOMESTIC MARKET
Furniture demand in Vietnam experienced
relevant growth over the period 2003-
2013 and CSIL expects 6% growth in real
terms in total furniture consumption in
Vietnam both in 2014 and 2015.
With a population of nearly 90 million
showing improving living standards,
Vietnam can rely on a market of nearly 30
million households with 30% of the popu-lation
living in urban areas. Big cities are
the most profitable areas.
With its 6.4 million of inhabitants, Ho Chi
Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam and
it is expected to increase by 33% to 2020,
thus exceeding 8.5 million. Ho Chi Minh
City’s population is mostly concentred in
the Binh Tan District. Real estate in HCMC
suffers from an oversupply of luxury hous-ing,
with greater demand for low-income
residency. Despite this surplus, develop-ment
of luxury apartments and office
space continues in HCMC as developers
seek to transform the city into an interna-tional
and financial hub. The city govern-ment
has built a new urban administration
model for improving the liveability of the
city by 2016. Accordingly, the city will be
re-organized to have four satellite cities
revolving around a central area of 13 dis-tricts.
Other important urban centres are
Hanoi, Thanh Hoá and Nghệ An.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPORTED FUR-NITURE
The Vietnamese market is quite closed,
with the imports/consumption ratio in the
region of 30%. Although in absolute terms
Vietnam remains a small market for import-ed
items (US$ 400 million in 2013), the
trend is one of continuous growth (furni-ture
imports were worth just US$ 22 mil-lion
in 2003). In this respect, the country’s
rapid economic development in recent
years has played a major role and
prospects for growth are good for the
coming years, too. Looking at the geo-graphical
breakdown of furniture imports,
China provides the lion’s share with over
two thirds of the total import flows. South
Korea, Thailand and Malaysia follow at
some distance. There is also a marginal
(total less than US$ 10 million) presence
of Italian and German brands, which are
distributed through importers in the main
cities.
VIETNAM FURNITURE CONSUMPTION, 2003-2013
VIETNAM FURNITURE CONSUMPTION, 2003-2013
US$ billion
Source: CSIL
Consumption is apparent consumption at production prices, being calculated
as production-exports+imports (excluding retail markup).

SPECIAL REPORT
STUDIES
by Mauro Spinelli
THE EUROPEAN MARKET
FOR OFFICE FURNITURE
CSIL International Market Research
WORKSPACE
he persistence of the market tur-bulence
has somewhat upset the
general conviction about the
duration of the economic cycle. In
T
fact, before 2008 the office business in
Europe registered two main critical peri-ods,
one in 1993 and another in 2002,
while since the dramatic drop of 2009
the sector remained stagnant and
slowed down again in 2013. In this diffi-cult
situation, companies are of course
obliged to prepare their mid-term budg-et
plans, but at the same time they are
forced to adjust them on a “quarter by
quarter” basis, because the trend of
sales inevitably reflects on their invest-ment
policy in machinery, R&D and
marketing-distribution.
In 2013 European office furniture pro-duction
reduced by 5.6% to a value of
EUR 6,735 million. The performance of
international trade has been negative.
The -0.8% decrease in exports (EUR
2,358 million) was accompanied by a
reduction of imports (-5.8%, EUR 2,172
million). As a result, apparent consump-tion
decreased by -7.3% over the year.
Market openness increased in 2013 as
exports/production ratio grew to 35%
gaining two percentage points compar-ing
to the previous year and
imports/consumption ratio stabilized at
33% for both years.
The market difficulties registered in the
year gave new reasons for industrial
restructuring process with a number of
companies downsizing employment,
entering insolvency procedures and
EUROPEAN EXPORTS OF OFFICE FURNITURE, 1993-2013. PERCENTAGE CHANGES
Source: CSIL processing
operating factory closures. Starting
from September 2013 a lot of plants
closures have been announced in
Germany by the most important manu-facturers
in the office furniture sector.
The number of workers continued to
decrease falling by 1.9% on average
compared to 2012, and it is expected to
drop again in the current year.
CONCENTRATION, COST REDUC-TION
AND INVESTMENTS
The market concentration in Europe
continued to increase over the last
years with top 5 manufacturers current-ly
covering about 21% share of the
whole market. Kinnarps is the largest
player in terms of turnover, followed by
Steelcase with a market share of 6.5%
and 6.4%, respectively. Ahrend Group
ranked third (gaining one position com-pared
to 2012), followed by Haworth
Europe and Bene Group which is
undergoing a business reorganization.
The European office furniture sector
employed a total workforce of about
55,434 in 2013. The trend has been
negative since 2008, recording a fall in
2009 and further decreases in the fol-lowing
years. The majority of players
now employ less people than in the past
with some manufacturers losing until
60% of their employees in five years.
The Italian Faram and Mio Dino have
been placed in administration in May
2014, the two factories have been
closed, resulting in a loss of 180 jobs.
At the end of 2013 three Italian compa-nies
have been put in liquidation:
Castelli Spa, Iterby and Della Rovere.
Several plant closures and conversions
have been announced in Germany. The
majority of them will be operated during
2014. Kinnarps, Haworth, Steelcase
and Koenig+Neurath announced both
factory closures and workforce reduc-tion
in the current year.
Kinnarps plans to cut its workforce by
50 positions out of 422 in its main pro-duction
facility in Sweden in 2014.
Already in 2013, the gorup had started
a program to reduce costs and improve

SPECIAL REPORT
STUDIES
WORKSPACE
EUROPE. OFFICE FURNITURE PRODUCTION, NON-RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION
OUTPUT AND GDP, 2003-2013 AND FORECASTS FOR 2014.
PERCENTAGE CHANGES AT CONSTANT PRICES
THE EUROPEAN MARKET
FOR OFFICE FURNITURE
This report offers a comprehensive
picture of the office furniture market in
16 Western European countries,
providing office furniture industry
statistics (production and consumption,
imports exports), office furniture prices,
marketing policies and distribution,
market evolution (2003-2013) and
figures by country.
A forecast on office furniture
consumption by country in 2014 and
2015 is also given.
The report analyses sales data and
market shares of top European
manufacturers.
The 2014 edition contains a detailed
analysis on office seating quantities
and brand positioning. The number
and the performance of swivel chairs
sold in 2012 and 2013 and brand
positioning by average “net price”, is
given for six major countries (Germany,
France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain
and Sweden). Values include both
products manufactured in Europe and
products imported from extra
European countries.
Publisher: CSIL, Publication date: June
2014, XXVI Edition, Language: English
Available for online purchase and
immediate download at
Source: CSIL processing of official data
* forecast
synergy in production, in line with the
worse-than-expected sales develop-ment.
In Summer 2013 Martela announced a
restructuring program aimed to achieve
cost savings equivalent to annual EUR 6
million by the end of 2014. The princi-pal
measures include production trans-fers
among the Group’s different busi-ness
locations and merging of support
functions as well as reorganising and
improving the productivity of poorly per-forming
businesses. The personnel
reductions and production transfers
represent approximately 60% of the
total cost saving plan.
König+Neurath is in the process of
closing its manufacturing facility in
Weissensee/Thuringia, Germany (130
employees), and to consolidate its pro-duction
at its Karben headquarters in
Germany.
In parallel with cost reduction policies
operated by companies (especially in
terms of workforce), the percentage of
total turnover destined for investments
started to increase again over the last
years. On average European office fur-niture
manufacturers dedicated 4.8% of
turnover to investment activities.
Promotion represented 1.0% of total
turnover in 2013 and it has been
decreasing since 2003.
Investments in machinery stabilised at
1.5% of total sales.
Companies continued to invest in
design and product development,
which remained almost stable at 2.3%
of total turnover.
EXPECTATIONS FOR 2014
Europe expects a moderate GDP real
grow in 2014 (+1.2) and a slow
decrease (-0.4%) of non-residential
construction output. According to the
last available figures from Eurostat the
office furniture business started 2014
with a slow increase of export activities,
in particular +0.7% export growth in
January-February 2014 (compared to
the same period of 2013).
Regarding the European office furniture
output at constant prices, CSIL is fore-casting
for 2014 an increase of 1% on
the previous year.
WHICH PROSPECTS FOR EU COUN-TRIES?
In 2014 largest GDP increases are
expected for Sweden, United Kingdom,
Norway, Switzerland and Germany,
while Greece, Italy and Finland will
increase slowly together at a rate lower
than 1%. A general stagnation is pre-dicted
for the remaining countries.
For 2015 a better outlook is expected
for Sweden, Ireland and Greece (real
GDP growth about 3%), followed by the
United Kingdom, Norway, Spain and
Germany, which will record increases
between 2.5% and 3%.

REVIEW FROM
NEOCON CHICAGO
DJUSTABILITY AND INDIVIDUAL
OFFICES
There were a number of dis-cernible
trends apparent to visi-tors
A
to Neocon 2014 in Chicago last
June. Height adjustability has arrived in
the US with a vengeance. Hardly a case-goods
manufacturer managed to avoid
including one in their displays and
some, Steelcase for example, showed
them in serried ranks. Competition was
about how smoothly the top travelled,
the extent of the range of travel, the
weight the mechanism could support
and even how the floppy control switch
wouldn’t trap fingers (Herman Miller).
One common theme from the majors
including Teknion and Steelcase was a
perceived return to individual offices.
Teknion’s approach had a residential
flavour with warm colours and wood
veneers while Steelcase showed a multi-purpose
variation of a cellular office,
which included a collaboration area.
This doubled up as a team area when
the boss was away. Surely it’s a retro-grade
step to think about reverting to
hierarchical styled offices, where some
SPECIAL REPORT
TRENDS
WORKSPACE
by John Sacks
JSA
have their private spaces, after spending
the past ten years or so driving towards
the great communications and collabo-ration
fostered by offices which, apart
from meeting and interview rooms, are
almost totally open plan?
Breakout areas were well catered for
with pods and other informal groupings
of low level seating and tables surround-ed
by screens or other dividers.
Haworth’s offering in this category,
Openest, designed by Studio Urquiola
won Best of Competition while Okamura
showed their attractive Muffle arrange-ment.
Herman Miller’s showroom was colour-ful
and welcoming with products that
were generally more evolutionary than
revolutionary. Their new Eames-esque
tables, with imaginative top shapes, and
chairs, were attractive.
Many of the new task chairs featured
exposed mesh covered plastic backs in
white or black and a wide variety of
ergonomic arguments to support the
Okamura Muffle
Carbon fiber chair from Coalesse
Herman Miller Eames-esque table and chairs Hosu by Coalesse Haworth Openest
www.worldfurnitureonline.com WF - September 2014 15

SPECIAL REPORT
TRENDS
WORKSPACE
Knoll’s Revolution Workplace height adjustable tables Molo Softwall and Softblock
functions provided by the shapes, artic-ulation
and controls of each. Okamura
launched a brand new task chair,
Sylphy, from the company’s in-house
design team.
Other attractive chairs in the same
theme were a re-worked Gesture from
Steelcase and Mimeo from Allsteel,
designed by Bruce Fifield and intended
for use in a number of different environ-ments.
Teknion launched a Gold Award
winning, delightfully simple, lightweight,
dividing screen, Litewall, which joins to
its neighbour without tools, by way of its
integrated magnets. The screens have
aluminium feet, which swivel out when
needed and are hidden at the bottom of
screen, tucked away, when not
required.
The Steelcase company, Coalesse, dis-played
beautiful new products and for
those interested in innovative design,
were, as in previous years, in many ways
the stars of the show. Hosu Convertible
is a lounger chair which can be used
both as an almost conventional living
room type chair and which converts into
a low level sloucher by placing the seat
cushion on the floor. Their new Carbon
Fiber stacking chair with a starting list
price of $1750, was beautifully light and
highly tactile.
Innovative company Molo, won Best of
Neocon for Architectural products with
their Softwall and Softblock modular
system which is a part of the permanent
collection of New York’s Museum of
Modern Art.
This is a flexible freestanding partition
system that expands and contracts to
freely shape more intimate spaces with-in
larger open areas. The cellular struc-ture
of softwall + softblock serves to
Hive from Connection
dampen sound while translucent or
opaque versions sculpt the light of a
space. Made from a non-woven polyeth-ylene
material, it is recyclable and is
made from partly recycled content. Its
lightweight paper look and feel is tear,
UV and water resistant.
One unusual product was the FreedMan
chair from UK osteopath, Simon
Freedman based on his own knowledge
of anatomy. Made principally from die
cast aluminium, this small and surpris-ingly
comfortable, chair forces the user
to adopt a correct posture. Another
British presence was Connection, rep-resented
in the US by PalmerHamilton,
who won a Silver award with their Hive
enclosure.
And for next year? Unlike in the past, the
question marks over Neocon appear to
have disappeared and no one has seri-ous
doubts that it will continue to thrive.
Unlike its European counterparts -
Orgatec, Milan and others - much of
Neocon’s success is undoubtedly due
to the 100% commitment it receives
from every major North American office
furniture manufacturer, and so long as
that continues, this show will go on.
For your Agenda: next edition of Neocon
is scheduled from 15 to 17 June 2015.
Updated Gesture from Steelcase
Sylphy by Okamura
Mimeo from Allsteel
FreedMan chair

THE ITALIAN DESIGN OF BABINI
OFFICE WINS ‘BEST OF NEOCON’
B abini Office, Italian office furni-ture
company received this important award,
manufacturer, has been
awarded with the prestigious
‘Best of Neocon’ Award in the
‘Removable Walls’ category. The win-ning
product is ARIA, produced in col-laboration
with the American partner
Inscape.
NeoCon Chicago, a world leading trade
fair in the office sector, takes place in a
market, where companies may have the
same size of total consumption of office
furniture in Italy.
Michele Falcone, Chief Operative
Officer of Babini Office, said: "We are
honoured and glad that the American
market appreciates our design and the
ability to create innovation, with the
same passion that all our employees
express in their every day’s work. In
such a tough period for our country, our
strategy to focus on foreign markets is
proving to be successful, and is leading
to good results. Alongside with the
opening of showrooms in Dubai, Saudi
Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and
Russia, the partnership agreement with
Inscape for the production of our parti-tion
walls for the American area repre-sents
a great opportunity for growth and
development".
Babini Office is a 100% Made in Italy,
9001, 14001 and 18001 certified com-pany,
and an excellent example of how
an Italian family company may well com-pete
on international markets.
Monica Babini, CEO of Babini Office
commented: "I’m really happy that our
SPECIAL REPORT
R & D
WORKSPACE
proving that our 50-year-old experience
is appreciated by the American market,
as well as our becoming an international
company. We thank our American part-ner
Inscape, who believed in our talent
and shared this adventure with us".
ARIA
It is a wall, but it’s like AIR... light, impal-pable,
ethereal. Subdividing the space,
but also giving value to it, enriching it
with charm and comfort, increasing the
acoustic and thermal comfort, creating
positive and dynamic scenarios in which
to experience your work and personali-ty.
Completely integrated with the archi-tecture
and furnishings, it can meet the
needs of each activity and person.
Designed by Babini Lab, ARIA aspires to
a refined minimalism in which the mate-rials
and technologies become a func-tional
and aesthetic element. The struc-ture,
in extruded aluminium, is available
in natural anodized finishing or matt
black and white. Three colours allow
perfect inclusion in any ambience, high-lighting
the contours of the wall like a
thin line. ARIA provides the choice
between compound and tempered
glass, vertically connected with polycar-bonate
or aluminium profiles, which
guarantee perfect union with total trans-parency
or finished. Glass panels are
available in warm colour finishings, such
as European bronze and grey. The
transparent version can be personalised
with great lined motifs or strip frosting,
thus characterising the environment and
creating a greater sense of privacy. ARIA
system also proposes different finishes
on two sides of blind panels, in order to
give rhythm to each composition. The
use of large glass surfaces is a distinc-tive
element of modern architecture, but
it also meets a sustainability criterium: in
fact, maximum use of sunlight means a
significant reducing of energy consump-tion
and a better environmental impact.
Babini Spa is a family-owned
Company based in Central Italy.
For over 50 years, it has been desi-gning
and producing functional
and high quality office furniture,
with a strong emphasis on wor-kplace
improvement and new
ideas for space solutions, exclusi-vely
made in Italy. Babini Spa
recorded very good results in
2013, + 11% sales on 2012 (+10%
sales in 2012 on 2011). The appro-ach
to a new market and distribu-tion
channel is resulting in a
growth of exports, which in 2013
represented over 50% of the total
turnover. The company also focu-sed
on quality and certifications,
obtaining the 100% Made in Italy
certification in 2013 and the BS
OHSAS 18001:2007 in 2014.
Aria single by Babini Office Aria double Michele Falcone and Monica Babini

CLERKENWELL DESIGN WEEK
Y Since Clerkenwell may have the world’s
ear after year, the Clerkenwell
Design Week in London turned
out to be a not-to-be-missed
meeting point for architects,
design people and trade operators of
the furniture and furnishings sector. The
show is a good mix of permanent show-rooms,
pop-up exhibitions and venues in
interesting and attractive buildings,
along with outdoor sites, which are tem-porary
used as exhibition areas.
The show took place from 20 to 22 May
and celebrated a record-breaking fifth
edition, with 32,300 visitors throughout
the entire area, which is pleasant and
easily walkable. In total, 57% of the visi-tors
were architects and designers, a
10% increase compared to 2013.
SPECIAL REPORT
EVENT
WORKSPACE
highest concentration of architects and
designers per square mile, this attracted
more and more furniture and interior
design companies to the area, which is
actually a valuable design hub.
William Knight, new Show Director,
comments, “Overall, we’re absolutely
delighted with this year’s turnout, the
highest number of attendance since we
launched the festival in 2010. We have
had overwhelming responses from
everyone including sponsors, show-room
partners, exhibitors, collaborators
and visitors”.
Every year, the local showrooms partner
with Clerkenwell Design Week (over 60
in 2014), providing the festival with a
rich programme of events, including
by Paola Govoni
talks, workshops and launches of new
products and collections. These partici-pating
companies include high-end con-tract
furniture, lighting, kitchen and bath-room
brands, and also material manu-facturers.
Leading international office
furniture manufacturers are also attend-ing.
Among them: Arper, Bene, Elite,
Haworth, Interstuhl, Kinnarps, Knoll,
Sedus, Steelcase, Vitra, and Wilkhahn,
just to mention a few. A tour to a selec-tion
of office furniture showrooms was
organised by KölnMesse on 22 May ,
during the International Press
Conference ORGATEC held in London.
Get ready for next edition of the
Clerkenwell Design Week from 19 to 21
May 2015.
BRUNNER UK OPENS UP
NEW SHOWROOM IN CLERKENWELL
on renovation and
equipment for the
new showroom.
“This investment
will guarantee our
growth over the
next 20 years”,
says David Shirley,
Managing Director
of Brunner UK Ltd.
The new Brunner UK showroom in Clerkenwell
About Brunner UK Ltd. In 2003, British furniture manufacturer David Shirley
restructured the company he had founded in 1973 into a joint venture with
Rolf Brunner. “For me, this step represented the future, since there was a
whole array of great synergies”, Shirley explains. Since that time, he has
been Managing Director of Brunner UK Ltd. Together with his three sons, he
has established Brunner not only as a brand for high-quality contract
furniture, but he developed the company to become an industry leader on
the British market.
Brunner UK, the British subsidiary of
German contract furniture manufacturer
Brunner, has now moved into its new
corporate headquarters with its large
showroom on a surface area of 740
sqm, located right in the London design
district Clerkenwell.
The home of the new Brunner UK cor-porate
headquarters is a brick building
dating back to the time around 1890.
Over its long history, it was used as a
warehouse, cinema, printers’ shop and
tannery. In recent years it had been left
to decay, until Brunner’s arrival in
February 2013. The careful renovation
under the guidance of London architec-tural
firm McDowell+Benedetti was to
safeguard the building’s industrial her-itage.
That’s why steel girders and brick
walls are important characteristics of the
new showroom. The real eye-catcher
though is the large, dark steel staircase
connecting all three floors, welding
them together as it were. Facing
Rosebery Avenue, eight big shop win-dows
and a swivel door set a great
stage. Brunner UK spent EUR 800,000

WWW.ORGATEC.COM
ORGATEC
THE LEADING INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR
FOR MODERN WORK ENVIRONMENTS
COLOGNE, 21. – 25. 10. 2014
ORGATEC is the only trade fair in the world to focus on the
perfect interaction of work environment, work processes
and information and telecommunications technology.
In 2014 ORGATEC will pave the way for a networked mobile offi ce. Here you will fi nd
solutions for the realisation of fl exible working and the design of a human-friendly
offi ce world
Koelnmesse GmbH
Messeplatz 1 | 50679 Cologne | Germany
Tel. +49 1806 858 368 | Fax +49 221 821-99 1380
orgatec@visitor.koelnmesse.de
Buy
entrance tickets
online now
and save up
to 43 % !

FOCUS
RESINS
VONDOM AT VINCCI GALA
HOTEL
M
20 WF - September 2014
MATERIALS
ost allegorical elements of this
stunning and elegant hotel of
the year 1900 located in the
downtown of Barcelona, Spain,
are found in its remodelling, particularly
with regard to the preservation of its
original neoclassical facade and central
staircase.
Images of the Catalonian painter
Salvador Dalí and his wife Gala are scat-tered
throughout the hotel, giving way to
a “surrealist” experience.
In the lobby two planters by STUDIO
VONDOM preside over the stairway to
the terrace, where a relaxing and avan-guardist
space awaits visitors and
invites them to relax in the heart of the
city. VONDOM’s FAZ, MOMA and FIES-TA
Collections furnish the relax area in
tones of bronze and white. These items
are manufactured by rotation moulding
and are made by resin of polyethilene.
The result of this project is a getaway
where design and tradition live side by
side in harmony, nodding respectfully to
the city’s modernist spirit. Architects
and Interior Designers:
TBI Architecture & Engineering,
www.tb-i.eu
Photos: VONDOM
Photos: José Hevia Blach
INIALA BEACH PROJECT BY A-CERO
This exclusive hotel located on the
waterfront of Thailand's Natai Beach,
Phuket, is a place where to enjoy the
ocean with the comfort of a high-end
design.
Wide-spanning windows, which form
the main facade to the outdoors, give
way to a deck outfitted with REST sun
chaises designed by A-cero and VER-TEX
chairs designed by Karim Rashid
for VONDOM, the Spanish specialist for
outdoor furniture.
Sofas from FAZ Collection by Ramón
Esteve are made in resin of polyethyl-ene
and produced by rotation mould-ing,
100% recyclable. These items are
suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

META NOUVEAU,
THE TABLE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
ccording to Fedra Villa, design
does not mean creating extrava-gance
at all costs, but giving per-sonality
and a strong identity,
A
that is part of our daily lives. Designing
an exclusive item means that the idea
and the passion turn out into the proj-ect,
and to the production, which is
made of study, research and experi-ence.
This table, for instance, has been stud-ied
in various proposals in recent years.
Nowadays, Meta Nouveau can be
"sewn" at the client’s home just like an
‘haute couture’ dress, thanks to its end-less
possibilities of customization.
The base, massive and with authorita-tive
lines, is coated with a precious
white leather, perfect to fit in different
types of environment. The top offers dif-ferent
choices. The picture shows the
version in solid cherry wood lightened
by a central glass but it can be made of
various materials, from raw or manufac-tured
metal, leather, marble, stone and
even glass methacrylate or resin.
The touch that makes Meta Nouveau
"almost a sculpture" is the delicate LED
lighting that runs along the inner sides
of the table, which is available in differ-ent
sizes, according to the client’s
needs.
Fedra Villa Design
Viale Umbria, 18
20135 Milano
fedravilladesign@libero.it
www.fedravilladesign.com
Press Office: Alexandra Albano
albanoalexandra@yahoo.it
FOCUS
PROJECTS
MATERIALS
by Fedra Villa Design, Meta Nouveau is
a tailor-made table combining line,
innovation, technology and different materials
Meta Nouveau in the living room
Meta Nouveau in the office
High attention
to details
FEDRA VILLA TELLS HER STORY
Art school, construction engineering and industrial design at IED in Milan.
Fedra Villa’s curriculum is a serious one. After her degree, she worked in an
architect studio dealing with internal renovation and customized design.
This experience led to open her own design studio where she is in charge
with renewal and customized design, always aiming at creating something
unique, like the table Meta Nouveau, that she has recently presented at
Salone del Mobile in Milan, with a great success.
Fantasy, imagination and working ability, too. Research and deep knowled-ge
of materials like glass, wood, iron, leather, marble, and also the new
ones, like methacrylate. A good knowledge of modern technologies and
high attention paid to details are required as well.
Fedra Villa is now working in a team with architects, designers, craftsmen
and decorators, accredited professionals with whom a strong synergy has
been created.
September 2014 - WF
www.worldfurnitureonline.com 21

FOCUS
FINISH FOILS
SCHATTDECOR’S NEW ‘DECOR
SELECTION’ AT IWF ATLANTA
W
MATERIALS
ith its Decor Selection 2014
the German company set out in
a new direction and put an
entirely new global plan in
motion. A concern for Schattdecor was
having too many new decors for cus-tomers
to choose from. So after
assessing trend predictions, the com-pany
decided to reduce to a smaller
Decor Selection.
As the pace of developing new decors
and introducing new trends became a
bit frantic, there was a fear of over-whelming
the market. Out of this arose
the idea to reduce the number of new
patterns. Schattdecor looked to being
responsible for quality decors as
opposed to just quantity - getting down
to the “bottom line.”
Current industry trends serve as a basis
for reducing to this smaller number of
quality decors: Naturalness and Nature,
Upcycling, Individuality, and Reducing,
the latter as a direct counterpoint to the
sensory overload.
In Russia, as well as in Turkey and the
United States, the initial feedback has
shown that this theme will work globally.
At IWF in Atlanta from 20 to 23 August
Schattdecor showed its "Raw
Essentials" color story and gave infor-mation
about what the "trend drivers"
are for the future of the laminate indus-try
when considering new surface fin-ishes,
designs and colors.
All eleven of the Decor Selection 2014
decors, in both melamine and Finish
Casual chic offers contrasts
of light and heavy
Foil, were available to see. Finish Foil
has had very positive product develop-ment
and has put Schattdecor in the
forefront as the leading Finish Foil pro-ducer
in the industry. It has also
prompted the company to implement a
dedicated team, specializing in this
product alone, for the North American
market. Claire Williams and Bastian
Kastner (Schattdecor´s new finish foil
team for North America) presented the
advantages of Finish Foil in conjunction
with the Decor Selection and informed
visitors of the benefits of this relatively
new Schattdecor product.
ABOUT SCHATTDECOR.
FROM ROTOGRAVURE DECOR PRINTERS TO SURFACE SPECIALISTS
For 30 years Schattdecor has been supplying printed decor paper, finish foils and
melamine film to leading companies in the wood-based panel and furniture industry.
The family company, based in Thansau, Germany, processes more than 100
thousand tons of paper worldwide every year.
The Schattdecor group consists of 13 locations worldwide and over 1500
employees.
The company was able to generate sales of over Euro 575 million in the past
financial year. Although the focus is still on rotogravure printing, finish foil and
impregnation have gained strong importance in recent years. Last year, more than
270 million square meters of finish foil were produced at the site in Guchoazy,
Poland - which would be enough to wrap the globe more than three times. In
comparison to 2012, production has risen by about 50%.
More information at www.schattdecor.de
Be inspired by Décor Selection 2014

COOKINGAGENT MAKES
IT FUN TO BE TIDY
nder the mot to ‘C lever Storage i n
th e K i tchen’ Kesseböhmer of fers
a complete r ange of har dware fit-tings
for the kitchen fur niture
U
i ndustry, with focus on : t a ll cab inets ,
bas e cabinets, corner cabine ts, lift-up
sy stems . 75% of company’s total pro-duction
was dedicated to the kit chen
fur nit ure seg ment i n Western Euro pe in
2013 and the major ity of sales to the
kitchen furniture segment in Western
E urope went to Ger many, the United
Kingdom and France.
Hig hly functional and ultra-flexib le with a
foo tprint o f 25 x 46 cm, Coo kin gA GENT
by Kess eböhmer is a compac t, ful l-extension
pullout for kitchen b a se units
providing an amaz ing amoun t of we ll-organised
storage capa city for all sorts
of cooking implements a nd ingred ients.
Each unit is modular, so that users can
choose whic h ele ments they want and
wher e to posi tion them. The result is
hi ghly custo mised storage, which use rs
FOCUS
FITTINGS
MATERIALS
KESSEBÖHMER.
60 YEARS ON THE MARKET
Kesseböhmer is a German leading sup-plier
of innovative solutions for furniture fit-ting
systems. The company was founded
in 1954 and the group is still owned and
managed by the founding family.
The company’s core divisions include:
special solutions for the furniture and furni-shings
industry (kitchen, bathroom, bedro-om),
product displaying systems for
shops, stands, desks, shelving systems,
ergonomic technology components for
office, industrial, school, healthcare appli-cations,
integrated systems for the cara-van
The core know-how of the company is
metal processing. Products are manufac-tured
using wire, flat band and tubing and
they are finished in in-house electroplan-ting
and powder-coating facilities. Many
products are assembled using snap-on
connections and they do not require tools.
Kesseböhmer has a high degree of verti-cal
integration and all manufacturing steps
are processed in-house. Key structural ele-ments
of production are engineered and
built inside. New concepts, special appli-cation
requirements and innovative issues
are developed in close partnership with
the customers, who are well-know brands
and leading manufacturers of the furniture
and furnishings industry. The company’s
headquarters are located in Bad Essen.
Other offices and productive sites are
located in: Bohmte, Weilheim/Teck,
Lübeck and Herrnhut. All of them are in
Germany.
September 2014 - WF
industry.
CookingAGENT by Kesseböhmer
can change and rearrange very easily.
Functional elements are hung onto a
vertical support frame and they include
a knife block, bottle rack, shallow stor-age
boxes and deeper containers and a
chopping board.
The runners have been chosen for ultra-smooth
action and high lateral stability.
There are two installation options.
Bottom-mounted runners are ideal for
retrofitting in existing kitchen units. In a
new kitchen, mounting CookingAGENT
on the side-panel of the base unit might
be more appropriate. All plastic ele-ments
meet exacting German quality
and hygiene standards. Tests have con-firmed
that they’re both foodsafe and
dishwasher safe. In the standard ver-sion,
container boxes, trays and bottom
panel inserts are made of pale grey
plastic. Kesseböhmer also offers a
range of bright coloured versions for
the kitchen industry.

FOCUS
R & D
LECTRA.
ONE DAY IN THE FUTURE
A
MATERIALS
24-hour Seminar to experience
the ”Lectra way“ of capitalizing
its amazing integrated technol-ogy
on the production of
upholstered furniture was held by
Lectra at its Bordeaux-Cestas (France)
International Technology and
Conference Center, hosting a selection
of over 50 professionals from 13 coun-tries.
During the "24 hour" event, attendants
could experience the impact of Lectra
new technologies on the upholstered
furniture manufacturing process follow-ing,
in real time, the production of an
armchair, from the initial design sketch
to the manufacturing of the finalized cut
parts.
"This event was a fantastic opportunity
for our customers and prospects to gain
new insights and discover new
approaches to improve their manufac-turing
processes. Going through the
entire process of designing and devel-oping
an armchair then producing the
cut parts, was a big hit with the partici-pants,"
says Céline Choussy-Bedouet,
Marketing Director Lectra.
Styling and Costing; Product
Development and Industrialization; and
Production of Cut Parts were the three
themes developed during “Lectra 24
hours”, during conferences and on the
field, visiting Lectra lean manufacturing
site and through demostration at the
automated cutting rooms for fabrics and
leather.
CAD engineers used the 2D/3D
DesignConcept Furniture solution to
demonstrate the time and cost-saving
advantages of virtual prototypes for the
styling and costing phases of manufac-turing.
The audience experienced the
full product development of the arm-chair's
interior (wooden structure and
foam) components, as well as the
leather and fabric upholstery, using
Lectra's industrialization and pre-pro-duction
software and learned how valu-able
an automated cutting room can be
for optimizing production, increasing
material savings, and maintaining con-sistent
product quality through demon-strations
of Lectra's leather and fabric
cutting solutions, Versalis® and
Vector®.
Key testimonials were leading uphol-stered
manufacturing companies that
have already integrated Lectra technol-ogy
in their production as IMS (Poland),
Ekornes (Norway) and Cassina (Italy),
who witnessed how the use of Lectra
technologies can positively affect the
upholstered production process.
by Giovanna Castellina
CSIL
Lectra International Technology
and Conference Center, Cestas
Bordeaux (France)
Versalis ® cutting system

FOCUS
R & D
MATERIALS
Cad 2D and 3D solutions are revolu-tionizing
companies design process
with the use of virtual prototypes, that
enables to avoid errors and incorrectly
developed products, whereas cutting
solution are optimizing the production
process, allowing companies to pro-duce
more efficiently, improving opera-tions,
reducing waste and increasing
productivity, often returning on their
investment even earlier than planned.
Versalis ® is capable to scan leather
and nest the pieces on the hide in sep-arate
stages.
This innovative process enables “multi-hide”
nesting that increases material
savings by up to 4%. The new Lectra
technology can cut several hides simul-taneously,
boosting productivity and
allowing cost simulation prior to the cut-ting
phase.
About Lectra
Lectra is the world leader in integrated
technology solutions that automate,
streamline and accelerate product
design, development and manufacturing
processes for industries using soft
materials. Lectra develops the most
advanced specialized software and
cutting systems and provides
associated services to a broad array of
markets including fashion (apparel,
accessories, footwear), automotive (car
seats and interiors, airbags), furniture,
as well as a wide variety of other market
sectors, such as aeronautical and
marine industries, wind power, and
personal protective equipment. Lectra
serves 23,000 customers in more than
100 countries with 1,400 employees
and US$270 million revenues in 2013.
The company is listed on NYSE
Euronext.
For more information, please visit
www.lectra.com
Vector® cutting system
Design Concept 3D
LAST MINUTE
LECTRA OPENS SOUTH KOREAN SUBSIDIARY
Lectra announced the opening of its South Korean subsidiary based in Seoul. Lectra
has been present in the country for more than 25 years through its exclusive agent
Impa Systems. Impa’s entire staff has joined Lectra South Korea. The new subsidiary
will be managed by Hong-Kwon Moon, reporting to Yves Delhaye, Lectra director for
ASEAN, South Korea, India and Australia.
The opening of the South Korean subsidiary will help accelerate Lectra’s development
plans in Asia. "South Korea is one of the eight economies, together with Brazil, China,
India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey, which are expected to produce half of
global growth during the current decade. These countries make up the key markets
where we are already firmly established and where we continue to invest," said Daniel
Harari, Lectra CEO.
This new subsidiary is, after China, one of the spearheads of Lectra’s Asian
expansion, particularly in the automotive and fashion markets where South Korean
companies hold an increasingly important position worldwide. Lectra South Korea will
support local companies, as well as South Korean groups with an international
presence, some of which figure amongst Lectra’s largest customers. Many of them
are subcontracting production to other Asia countries and throughout the world and
are showing a growing interest in innovative solutions to improve efficiency and
competitiveness while ensuring a high level of quality.
"South Korean conglomerates, or chaebol, generally have ambitious expansion
plans. Lectra can guide them and help them meet their challenges thanks to its
experience from collaborating with leading fashion brands and global automotive
equipment makers," says Yves Delhaye. South Korean companies will benefit from
the expertise and the knowledge of Lectra’s local teams, backed by their international
network of specialists.
"My first goal is to reinforce Lectra’s relationships with the tier one automotive
subcontractors and main fashion groups. We believe that the fashion and apparel
market in particular will have a growing influence on the South Korean economy given
the evolution of sectoral dynamics that we are currently seeing," notes Hong-Kwon
Moon.
Chinese furniture manufac-turer,
the Trayton Group,
has selected Lectra’s
Versalis® and Vector®
together with product
development, pattern-mak-ing
and nesting software,
to automate and optimize
their production in China.

FOCUS
MARKETS
HIGHLIGHTS ON THE GLOBAL
MARKET FOR UPHOLSTERED
FURNITURE
A
MATERIALS
ccording to CSIL estimates,
world consumption of uphol-stered
furniture is worth US$
67 billion. Upholstered furni-ture
accounts for about 15% of total
world furniture consumption, which is
worth about US$ 418 billion. World
consumption of upholstery increased
rapidly in the last decade.
The largest consuming markets are
China, the United States, Germany, and
the United Kingdom.
World production of upholstered furni-ture
is worth almost US$ 68.5 billion,
including US$ 45.1 billion for local con-sumption
in the manufacturing country
and US$ 23.4 billion for exports, which
constitute international upholstery
trade. About 36% of world upholstery is
manufactured in high-income countries.
The balance (64%) is manufactured in
middle and low-income countries
among which the largest producers are
China and Poland. Some major produc-ing
countries have a high exports/pro-duction
ratio and are important
exporters.
China and Poland are the first two
upholstery exporting countries, fol-lowed
by Italy, Germany, the US and
Romania. The share of upholstered fur-niture
exports from emerging countries
increased from 30% to 66% in the last
decade.
The upholstered furniture segment has
a higher average number of employees
in comparison to other furniture seg-ments,
thus confirming the greater
dependence on labour for the manufac-turing
process (a highly labour-intensive
segment) and it witnesses an increasing
presence of new companies, mostly
from Asia and Eastern Europe. It is
worth remembering the huge invest-ments
made by European and US firms
in productive plants of upholstered fur-niture
in Poland or in China for export
purposes.
The issue related to the increase of
labour costs will affect the investments
in new technologies especially in
emerging countries. As far as advanced
economies are concerned, the difficult
economic situation of these last years
has put further emphasis on cost ration-alization
strategies, especially for large
companies. (G.C.)
WORLD UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE CONSUMPTION,
2003-2013 (2013 PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES), US$ BILLION
Source: CSIL
UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE: WORLD MARKET OUTLOOK 2015
A world overview of the production, consumption, import and export of upholstered
furniture for 70 countries from 2004 to 2013 is offered by the latest edition (July
2014) of the CSIL report ‘UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE: WORLD MARKET
OUTLOOK 2015’, including 2014-2015 outlook for international trade and market
development forecasts.
Openness degree of the market, countries of origin of imports and destination of
exports, outlook data by geographical area and for each country are also given, as
well as profiles of 50 major manufacturers of upholstered furniture worldwide.
Edition XII, language: English
Available for online purchase and immediate download at:

EPF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
IN BRUGES
he European furniture compa-nies
are responsible for around
one quarter of the world furniture
production. Over 80 out of the
T
200 largest furniture manufacturers
worldwide are headquartered in the EU
area. They are big companies, boasting
an international presence and capable
to set trends at a global level. Alongside
with these companies, the competitive
system is composed by a myriad of
SMEs engaged in the furniture produc-tion.
The productive system has been affect-ed
both by structural changes due to
the increasing global pressure (result-ing
in a selection of actors) and also by
the recent crisis from the demand side
(which reduced companies’ margins of
profitability). As a matter of fact, the
European wood furniture production
last year was in the range of Eur 80 bil-lion
(near the level of ten years ago).
Thus, European manufacturers of wood
based panels who supply the sector are
operating in a difficult context.
EPF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The European Panel Federation (EPF)
gathers over 5,000 companies,
employs 100,000 workers and gener-ates
a turnover of Euro 22 billion. EPF
members met from 18 to 21 June in
Bruge (Belgium) to discuss on current
trends and future perspectives, and to
talk about the need of lobbying actions
towards the European Institutions.
As for the first point, in the year 2013
signs of a market stabilisation were still
lacking, except for OSB, but preliminary
results for 2014 seem to be more prom-ising.
More into the details, EPF prelim-inary
estimates for 2014 look more
encouraging, with the particleboard
production in Europe growing by +1.5%
(28.3 million cubic meters in 2013).
FOCUS
PANELS
MATERIALS
MDF production was in the range of
11.2 million cubic meters in 2013 and a
+ 3% increase in European MDF con-sumption
is forecasted for 2014. The
OSB segment was particularly lively,
with a production volume increasing by
+6% last year.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS
According to Mr László von Döry,
Honorary President of EPF, the main
constraints are related to the fact that
wood availability decreases and wood
costs increase (for example, the parti-cleboard
sector faced a strong growth
of production costs during the year
2013, namely a +7% for post-consumer
wood and +5% for wood).
Relevant issues for the industry’s future
relates, among others, to wood avail-ability
at affordable cost, the competi-tion
with the bioenergy sector, the certi-fication
and the sustainability issues,
formaldehyde and VOC related issues,
as well as the recognition of carbon
storage wood products (HWP).
Some of these topics were also men-tioned
by Alessandra Tracogna, CSIL
partner, in her speech, covering the
main trends and providing some
insights on future perspectives for the
September 2014 - WF
Source: CSIL processing

FOCUS
PANELS
furniture sector, as one of the most
important market for wood based panel
production. The future of the sector and
the possibility of the industry of compet-ing
in the global context strongly
depend on the issue of creating added
value. Among the points of strength of
the furniture sector, she mentioned the
high quality raw materials and compo-nent
suppliers, the complete value
chain, the advanced production tech-nology,
the leading design and
research centres. Among the points of
weakness, not only the prevalence of
SMEs with their limited access to
finance has been mentioned, but also
high labour cost and stricter product, as
well as environmental and health, and
safety regulations.
EU furniture production costs are also a
key issue, as they are increasing faster
than those of the imported furniture; the
cost and availability of raw materials
were identified as threats, that might
affect the future competiveness of EU
manufacturers in the global context.
28 September 2014 - WF
MATERIALS
WESTERN EUROPE. FURNITURE PRICE GROWTH (2004=100)
PAST AND FUTURE ACTIONS
The activity of advocacy to the
European Institutes was also stressed
and illustrated through an overview of
actions promoted by EPF during the last
decade with the aim of creating more
awareness of the role of industry
(among others: the 1st EPF European
Action Day in 2010 and the protests
related to the subsidies for the direct
burning of woody biomass, the 2nd
action day in March 2012, the cam-paign
‘Tackle climate change: plant a
second forest’).
The 2014 European Wood Action Days
were presented during the Meeting in
Bruges. They will be held in Brussels,
from 22nd to 24th September 2014,
under the motto Wood Building
Europe’s Future.
Here, the principal aim is to make mem-bers
of the new European Parliament
and (candidate) members of the new
EU Commission aware, that the wood-working
industries can contribute to
achieving a sustainable carbonefficient
and resourceefficient economy and
also to explain, why they are THE indis-pensable
key for fundamental future
solutions in this context.
Source: CSIL processing from Eurostat

THE EUROPEAN MARKET
FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES
wo market reports concerning
the lighting fixtures market in
Europe (27) have been recently
published by CSIL. “Part I”
T
focuses on 16 Western European mar-kets,
whereas “Part II” analyses the
markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
WESTERN EUROPE: LED LIGHTING
IS NOW AT 28%
The production of lighting fixtures in the
EU16 countries registered a slight
decrease of -0.5% in 2013 compared
to 2012, thus reaching a total value of
EUR 10,518 million.
A significant growth in production was
recorded in Austria (+17.8%), while
Greece (-25.6%), Norway (-18%) and
Switzerland (-26.1%) experienced a sig-nificant
decline of the production of
lighting fixtures. Italy and Finland (slight
increase of +0.6%) recorded a weak
performance.
The production of residential lighting
performed better than the technical
segment.
Germany and Italy are the main
exporters of lighting fixtures. Among the
exporting countries, the Netherlands,
Austria and Ireland have been growing
at a remarkable pace over the last five
years, recording average yearly growth
rate of 9.8%, 7.3% and 4.0%, respec-tively.
The United Kingdom (1.6%),
Sweden (1.6%) and Denmark (0.8%)
increased their exports at a lower pace
during the period 2008-2013, while
Belgium (-3.1%), France (-0.1%),
Finland (-2.7%), Greece (-3.1%) and
Italy (-1.5%) recorded a decline.
Total value of imported lighting fixtures
in the EU16 area increased by 4.7% in
2013 compared to 2012 reaching EUR
10,527 million. A significant increase
has been recorded by Austria (+11.5%),
the Netherlands (+8.5%) and the UK
FOCUS
STUDIES
LIGHTING
(+8.4%). Imports from Asia and Pacific
have increased by 7.1%.
MAIN PLAYERS
In 2013 the top 50 players in Western
Europe accounted for 81% of the EU16
production of lighting fixtures. Looking
at the performance of these companies,
a significant growth of turnover was
recorded for companies such as
Eclatec, Armaturen, L&S, Xenon, Keria,
Globo Handels. However, Zumbotel,
Philips Lighting Professional and Osram
Group still have the largest share, com-pared
to the sample of companies, rep-resenting
9.1%, 7.9% and 5.3% of the
lighting production in the EU16 coun-tries.
Looking at the residential lighting market
in the area, Ikea, Eglo, Philip
Consumers and Keria are the major
players with over 30% of the market. As
far as the technical segment is con-cerned,
Zumtobel, Philip Lighting,
Fagerhult and Trilux are top companies,
covering 27% of the market.
by Jessica Catalano
CSIL
LIGHTING SOURCES
In the years 2009-2013, the following
trend has been recorded with regard to
lighting sources:
• Incandescence lost 25%, passing
from 44% to 19% of total lighting
sources.
• Fluorescence also faced a decrease
jumping down from 39% to 35%.
• Gas discharge (including metal
halide) increased 6% from 11% to 17%.
• LEDs significantly increased jumping
from 6% to 28% of total lighting
sources.
• Fiber optics are still around 1%.
ACQUISITIONS
During 2013, several players in the
lighting sector have made acquisitions.
Philips bought a majority stake in Saudi
Arabia’s General Lighting Company
from a consortium including Carlyle
group. Philips’ current activities in the
country will be combined with this com-pany
through a joint venture that will be
named Philips Lighting Saudi Arabia.
CSIL report ‘The European Market for Lighting Fixtures’ is available for
purchase and immediate download at: www.worldfurnitureonline.com
THE EUROPEAN MARKET FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES, PART I
Countries covered: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and UK. 150 interviews with the leading
producers of residential, commercial, industrial and outdoor lighting fix-tures.
International trade, supply and consumption volumes. Market
shares, distribution channels and investments. Data 2007-2013 and
forecasts for 2014. About 220 pages + list of useful contacts -
Language: English. Edition XXIII, Year 2014
THE EUROPEAN MARKET FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES, PART II
Countries covered: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia.
About 120 pages + list of useful contacts
Language: English. Edition V, Year 2014

FOCUS
STUDIES
This venture will focus on LED fixtures.
Fagerhult signed an agreement to
acquire 100% of the shares of Arlight
based in Ankara (Turkey), in order to fur-ther
strengthen its position in this mar-ket.
Through this acquisition the group
gains access to the dynamic Turkish
market and to the growth opportunities
in the region. Indeed, the Turkish light-ing
market is experiencing strong
growth driven by the country’s ambi-tions
to improve infrastructures and
energy efficiency. Also, Fagerhult
Group recently signed an agreement
with Greenlux Finland Ltd, a leading
manufacturer of LED luminaries for
parking garages in Scandinavia. On the
basis of this agreement, Greenlux will
deliver LED luminaries suitable for gen-eral
lighting to Fagerhult for marketing
and sale under the Fagerhult brand
name.
The family business Ensto acquired
Alppilux Oy, a privately owned Finnish
manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting
solutions. The acquisition is aimed to
strengthen the company’s market posi-tion
in the lighting business, especially
as a supplier of LED lighting solutions in
all market areas. Employing approxi-mately
70 people in Finland, Estonia
and Sweden, Alppilux Oy turnover is
about EUR 12 million, with a production
facility in Lohja, Finland and another
one in Paide, Estonia.
During 2012, the Nordeon group has
been established with the acquisition of
Philip’s Professional luminaire manufac-turing
facility in Springe (Germany). The
Nordeon Group consists of four inde-pendently
operated businesses: Hess
(high end, decorative, architectural out-door
lighting products, the company
has been acquired during 2013),
Vulkan (technical, decorative and func-tional
outdoor lighting products),
Nordeon (functional indoor lighting
products for industry, retail and offices)
and installerdirect.com (online whole-sale
platform for installers). Owner of
the Nordeon goup is Varova, a Dutch-based
investment company.
CENTRAL-EASTERN EUROPE:
GROWING EXPORT
The eight CE European countries con-sidered
registered a total turnover of
lighting fixtures of EUR 1,896 million in
2013 and approximately the same value
of consumption. The Region accounts
for 15% of total European production
(27 countries) and 13% of total
LIGHTING
European consumption (27 countries)
of lighting fixtures.
CE Europe exported EUR 1.3 billion of
lighting fixtures in 2013 and imported a
similar value. Over 20% of trade was
intra CE European countries. Almost
30% of imports originated from Asian
countries (mainly China), but also
Russia/CSI proved to be an important
destination. Trade with Western
European countries is 60% export and
50% imports, respectively.
In the years 2011-2013, exports of
lighting fixtures from CE Europe
increased from EUR 1,113 million to
1,268 million (+14%) and imports grew
from EUR 1,189 million to 1,268 million
(+7%). Poland alone provides 43% of
the lighting fixtures production of the 8
countries, followed by Czech Republic
(18%) and Romania (11%). Poland and
Czech Republic together claim 52% of
total exports and 48% of imports.
Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia are net
importers (algebrical balance among
export and import), while Czech
Republic and Slovakia are net
exporters. The trade balance for
Poland, Hungary and Slovenia shows
parity. Consumption of lighting fixtures
per inhabitant reached Western
European levels in Slovenia (almost
EUR 40 per inhabitant, at factory
prices), in Czech Republic and Slovakia
(around EUR 26-27), in Poland,
Hungary and Croatia (around EUR 20),
while it is lower in Bulgaria and
Romania.
Top ten manufacturers supply 17% of
total demand of lighting fixtures in
Central-Eastern Europe. Among them,
Philips, Osram, Eglo. In two years,
sales increased for Philips Professional,
Osram, Eglo, Rosa, OMS Lighting, Intra
Lighting, Nowodorski, Awex, and Ikea.
Diffusion of LED lighting in Central
Eastern Europe is still lower than in
Western Europe, anyway it reached
14% of the market in 2013 and will
probably reach a market share of 18%-
20% by the end of 2014.
CSIL STUDIES ON THE LIGHTING
FIXTURES INDUSTRY WORLDWIDE
Annually, CSIL - Centre for Industrial
Studies - publishes about 10 multiclient
research reports on the lighting fixtures
industry worldwide, working in team
with market researchers mainly based
in Milan (the very centre of Italian
design), statisticians as well as a large
network of country experts. Worldwide
leaders in the lighting fixtures market
have been among CSIL customers over
the years.
The world market for lighting fixtures
(excluding lamps, controls, equipment)
is worth USD 80 billion at factory prices,
and it grows at a yearly rate of 7%.
From 2005 to 2012, the world trade for
lighting fixtures recorded growth of
70%.
It is also a relatively profitable sector
with EBITDA of about 10%.
Main market drivers are: GDP growth,
energy saving, technical innovations
(including LEDs, organicLEDs, lighting
controls…), and an increasingly wide
range of “solutions” available.
Around 500 regional leaders, 4,000
relevant players, and 30,000 niche
manufacturers are active in this market.
Due to the LED revolution, entry barri-ers
in the sector are changing fast,
while a deep transformation in the sup-ply
chain is ongoing.
LED lighting increased by 50% in
Europe in 2013, and now it represents
28% of the overall market, according to
CSIL market reports.
International trade of lighting fixtures is
a relevant issue as well, with main
importers the United States, Germany,
France, the United Kingdom, and
Japan.
The lighting fixtures market will be sized
over USD 90 billion in the next year
(2015), considering the 60 country
markets studied by CSIL in its market
research activity.
Today China is by far the main manufac-turer
and exporter of lighting fixtures
worldwide, but new players are break-ing
in: for example, South Korea regis-tered
a huge 70% growth of the export
of lighting fixtures in the last available
year (2012).
The Italian market is relatively flat, but
Italian exporting companies could
record a 4% export growth during
2013.
What’s next: the LED share will probably
reach 40% next year (2015), while in a
couple of years OLEDs will no longer
be “just prototypes”. There is also a
growing market for retrofit LED bulbs
and lighting controls for new applica-tions.
Also worth mentioning is the e-com-merce
for the lighting fixtures market,
today accounting for around 4% of total
lighting fixtures business, including
B2B.

U.S. LIGHTING
FIXTURES MARKET
ecently, CSIL published the
eigth edition of the report on the
lighting fixtures market in the
United States. ‘LFI LightFair
R
International’ held this year in Las Vegas
offered the opportunity to focus on this
market. The value of the lighting fixtures
market in the United States for 2013 is
estimated by CSIL to be worth USD 17.1
billion, increasing by 5% on 2012. Pro
capite spending for lighting fixtures of
US consumer is about USD 53, some
10% less than the Japanese spending
(source: CSIL estimates), 30% more
than the spending in Germany, the UK
and Italy, fivefold higher than in China.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
The U.S. provides 13% of the world pro-duction
of lighting fixtures and 21% of
the consumption (formerly 24%).
Imports satisfy about 50% of total local
consumption (39% some years ago).
Exports of lighting fixtures from the
United States registered a +6.4%
growth from 2008 to 2013. Growth rate
has been lower (+3.3%) in 2013 on
2012. U.S. exports of lighting fixtures
are mainly addressed to Canada (49%),
Mexico (12%), and to a lesser extent to
Saudi Arabia (+10% in 2013), Australia,
China, and the United Kingdom. Strong
export growth has been registered
towards Mexico, Australia, Saudi
Arabia, China, and the Netherlands in
2013.
FOCUS
MARKETS
LIGHTING
Export of lighting fixtures is approxi-mately
32% consumer and 68% profes-sional
lighting fixtures (35%-65% some
years ago). Imports of lighting fixtures to
the United States increased strongly
between 2008 and 2013 (+7.3% on
average per year). A more relevant
growth (12.5%) has been registered for
2013 in comparison with 2012.
Import flows of lighting fixtures come
mainly from China (67% of market
share) and Mexico (with a market share
close to 17%). Canada is the third trade
partner with a 4.4% market share and a
stable trend between 2008-2013.
Imports of lighting fixtures from Taiwan
are on the rise. Imports from Europe,
especially from Germany and Italy, are
also relevant.
MARKET SEGMENTS
AND MAJOR PLAYERS
Top 50 players hold the large majority
of the U.S. market for lighting fixtures.
Out of top 50 players, 18 are mainly
involved in residential lighting, 17 in
commercial lighting, 7 in industrial and
8 in outdoor lighting.
Acuity is in top position, holding 11% of
the market. Philips Lighting is in sec-ond
position. New products include
BoldPlay (“Most Innovative Product of
the Year” at LFI Las Vegas, for office
spaces), Day-Brite’s wireless control
technology, new additions at the
Lumileds’ Luxeon family, solar solu-tions
by Aurelio Volpe
CSIL International Market Research
for pedestrian and other outdoor
large spaces, changing colour Sky
Ribbon for Hospitality, CrispWhite and
single optics technologies for Retail
spaces, luminous textiles and a proto-type
of “lighting sculpture” made by
OLED modules. Home Depot (with a
mix of traded brands and private
labels), Hubbell, Generation Brands,
Juno, Lowe’s, GE Lighting, LSI, Osram
and Cree are other relevant actors,
holding together almost 20% of the
market.
In 2013 strong growth has been regis-tered
by Cree, Amerlux, Littmann,
ETC, Columbia, AZZ, Intense. Among
the leaders, a robust growth (upper
single digit) is registered by Acuity,
Cooper, Hubbel, GE. Top 50
European players include Eglo (con-sumer
lighting), Selux-Semperlux, Xal,
Artemide, Hess and the giant retailer
IKEA.
Among the main Chinese players in the
U.S. market, we mention ETI Solid
State (U.S. is the second exporting
market after Japan, both lamps and
luminaires), Everlight (Taiwan based,
growing in the US mainly on fixtures,
thanks also to the acquisition of the
Wofi German brand), Tospo (previously
lamps, now growing on fixtures),
Unilumin (outdoor), Neo-Neon (enter-tainment),
JK Yaming (brand Resilient
for the States, including plasma, indic-tion
and solid state for hard-to-access

FOCUS
MARKETS
areas and high illumination). Among
the big players that only recently got
certifications: Violet, Yaships.
Double-digit growth for commercial
luminaires during 2013 was recorded
by Acuity, Cree, ETC, Intense,
Littmann, Atlantic Lighting, Columbia
Lighting, Jesco, Lumenpulse, Wac
Lighting. Production and consumption
of industrial lighting fixtures are estimat-ed
in USD 1.5 and 1.9 billion, respec-tively.
2013 registered +8% increase in
terms of consumption (now again at
2011 level). Acuity operates through the
brands Lithonia (emergency, high bay
luminaires), Holophane and Hydrel
(both floodlighting products).
BREAKDOWN OF U.S.PRODUCTION OF COMMERCIAL LIGHTING FIXTURES
Source: CSIL
LIGHTING
Holophane is active also in Spain and
the United Kingdom.
Strong growth in industrial lighting dur-ing
2013 has been registered by Acuity
Brands, AZZ Inc, Rigid Industries,
Columbia, Barron, SPI Lighting, and
Lumitec.
Production and consumption of outdoor
lighting in 2013 were estimated respec-tively
USD 3.0 and 3.7 billion, increas-ing
by +5%. Double-digit growth for out-door
luminaires during 2013 was regis-tered
by Acuity Brands (according our
estimates), Cree, Juno, Thorn-
Zumtobel, KMW Gigatera, Lumenpulse.
American companies like Visionaire
Lighting, US Architectural Lighting &
Sun Valley Lighting, Vista Lighting and
B-K Lighting (now offering architectural
dimming with a powerful 6000 lumen
output) focus their activity exclusively on
the outdoor lighting segment.
Production and consumption of con-sumer
lighting fixtures (indoor and out-door)
are estimated respectively USD
1.4 and 4.3 billion. Consumption regis-tered
a +3% increase in 2013.
Consumer luminaires weight 40%-45%
on the overall import of lighting fixtures.
Home Depot is the main Home
Improvement chain in the States, with
turnover in excess of 70 billion USD.
LEDs weight around 20% for bulbs and
just a few percentage
points for fixtures. Sales
grew by 7.5% in the
States during 2013. E-commerce
(+50%) is at
3.5% of overall sales.
Lowes is the second
Home Improvement
chain in the States, with
a turnover in excess of
50 billion USD (+4% in
2013). Turnover of light-ing
equipment is around
2 billion USD and at least
600 million USD are
lighting fixtures. LED
products are around
10% both for bulbs and
equipment. Lowes.com
accounted for approxi-mately
1.5% of total
sales.
BY DESTINATION, 2011-2013. PERCENTAGE SHARES
LFI Light Fair International
The trade show takes place every year in a different location. In 2014 it was held in
Las Vegas from 1 to 6 June. Next year it will be hosted in New York. LFI is held in
collaboration with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) and
the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD). The LFI 2014 show cove-red
239,800 net square feet and recorded 576 exhibitors, including 107 first-time
exhibiting companies and 103 manufacturers headquartered outside the U.S. were
registered. The LFI 2014 attendee population of 26,059 professionals included
representatives from 74 countries. The 2014 LFI Conference programme offered
more than 220 hours of education and contained 81 accredited courses, making it
the largest Conference in LFI history. LFI introduced two Forums this year – the LFI
Healthcare Lighting Forum and the LFI Hospitality Lighting Forum.

BOOMING MARKET
FOR LIGHTING FIXTURES
IN CHINA
hina is currently the main pro-duction
hub for lighting fixtures
in the world, representing
around 40% of total output, with
C
capacity increased by 29% in 2013.
It is also the largest exporter of lighting
fixtures and components worldwide
with over USD 24.6 billion in 2013.
During the 2008-2013 period, Chinese
export of lighting fixtures (including
components) recorded yearly average
growth of 21.6% in USD, resulting from
an average 18% growth (in USD) for
lighting fixtures and 44% yearly for com-ponents,
due to the booming export of
LED modules and other lighting pack-aging,
that are currently included in the
trade statistics for lighting fixtures. At an
early stage of the 2008-2013 period,
components accounted for a small
share of total amount (about 10%),
whereas export share of lighting com-ponents
on the total lighting export is
now about 23%.
The United States is by far the main
market of destination for Chinese
exports, although with a declining share
(from 28% in 2008 to 25% in 2013).
Germany is ranking second, with stable
market share at 7.6%, resulting from a
+18% yearly average growth since
2008 and +45% in 2013 on 2012.
Japan ranks third and could increase by
40% on average in the period 2008-
2013.
China’s export towards Europe covers
35% (43% in 2008), presently slowing
down due to weak market conditions.
Germany, the United Kingdom,
Netherlands and France are the main
destination markets.
Malaysia and Australia are two booming
markets for Chinese exports of lighting
fixtures, with average growth rate of
48% and 23%, respectively, from 2008
to 2013. The whole Asia-Pacific region
FOCUS
MARKETS
LIGHTING
by Mauro Spinelli CSIL
CHINA. EXPORTS OF LIGHTING FIXTURES BY SEGMENT, 2008-2013. MILLION US$.
Source: CSIL
is increasing as export destination, with
Indonesia, India and Singapore show-ing
over 30% average growth since
2008.
RAPID TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION
Some relevant aspects of the lighting sec-tor
in China are:
- increase of investments in machinery
and technology and reduction of average
number of employees per company;
- tough competition as LED modules man-ufacturers
are entering the fixtures market
with new technology integrated solutions
(Ex. Osram, Creee and many others);
- leading groups in the home appliances
business are eyeing the lighting business
(Ex. Midea);
- dichotomy between branded products
for the local market and OEM production
for exports;
- LED based fixtures reached about 34%
of the Chinese production on average;
- LED penetration is high in outdoor light-ing
and still contained in the
decorative/residential segment;
- high level of market fragmentation,
despite some recent M & A operations;
- distribution is becoming more and
more specialised;
- growth of e-commerce is also evident.
According to NVC Lighting, LED lighting
market will continue to grow extensively,
with expectation of a further decrease of
price difference between LED lighting
products and traditional lighting prod-ucts.
LED lighting market still has great
potential, due to the smart lighting devel-opment,
the phase-out scheme for
incandescent lamps in China and the
Chinese government’s support and pro-motion
for LED lighting products.
Hue by Philips is a smart bulb solution to
be controlled through smartphone or
tablet with either an iOS or Android oper-ating
system through Bluetooth, WiFi, or
ZigBee. Similar products have been pre-sented
by the Korean Seoul
Semiconductors with the new Acrich 3.
Also Chinese enterprises have intro-duced
significant innovations in this
field, BYD launched Wi-Fi based IC dim-ming
products while Midea presented
intelligent LED lighting control for bed-room,
including wakeup call and cur-tains
control.

FOCUS
MARKETS
Opple booth at GILE Philips boot (retail lighting) at GILE
LIGHTING
CHINA. AREA OF PARKS AND LENGTH OF PAVED ROADS, 1990-2012. HECTARES AND KM.
Source: CSIL
Promoted and organized by Messe Frankfurt, the Guangzhou International Lighting
Exhibition (GILE), took place from 9 to 10 June 2014 at the China Import Export Fair
Complex in Guangzhou.
The 19th edition of the fair hosted 2,621 exhibitors (2013: 2,588) from 25 countries
on a total exhibition area of 225,000 sq.m. and 21 halls. Visitors (129,885 from 132
countries and regions) increased by 11% compared to last year. Top-five visitor
countries included India, Korea, Russia, USA and Singapore. Visitors included trade-based
buyers such as lighting importers & exporters, merchandisers from
international chain stores, lighting e-tailers / retailers and wholesalers.
The 2014 exhibition also included five international pavilions, displaying recent
developments in smart lighting technology from some of the industry top production
hubs. The Japan Pavilion organized by JLMA and JETRO, the Korea Pavilion,
organised by the Korea LED Association, including 10 exhibitors, the Hong Kong
Pavilion leading a campaign called “HK Quality LED”. The Taiwan Pavilion hosted over
40 exhibitors and the U.S. Pavilion focused on “innovation and sustainability”.
The inaugural edition of the Shanghai International Lighting Fair (SILF) set for 3-5
September 2014 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre has been presented
during a press conference. Next GILE, celebrating its 20th anniversary, is scheduled
from 9 to 12 June 2015 at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou.
LED filament bulbs are expanding in the
market, to substitute incandescent
lamps. After the acquisition of Smalite,
Honglitronic expected to expand the
LED filament bulb business, also due to
a simple manufacturing technology and
low material costs. LED filament bulbs
have lighting curves similar to incandes-cent
bulbs and are ideal for replace-ments.
DEMAND POTENTIAL
Consumption of lighting fixtures is grow-ing
at overall level. Pushed by popula-tion
growth and urbanization process
the residential lighting segment is evolv-ing
fast. According to the United Nation
figures, China has a total population of
1,344 million and it will probably reach
1,400 million by 2025. During this peri-od,
the urban population will grow from
50% to 65% of total.
Demand for commercial lighting is on
the rise considering the expansion of
office spaces, retail premises and a sig-nificant
number of hotels under con-struction.
The total number of new
shopping malls in China is likely to
reach an unprecedented high in 2014,
with around 150 stores opening in the
top 20 urban areas. Furthermore, in
2014 China can count on 144,954
rooms under construction in 481
hotels, representing 68% of all projects
and 74% of all rooms in the pipeline
across whole Asia/Pacific area.
Investments in infrastructures are over-all
growing in China and these large
projects (roads, airports, railway/metro
stations, ports and power plants) are
pushing sales of outdoor lighting fix-tures.

THE WORLD MATTRESS
INDUSTRY
he eleventh edition of the World
Mattress Industry report has been
published in June 2014. CSIL’s
aim since its first edition in 2003,
T
is to give an increasingly complete picture
of the world of mattresses. Therefore the
updated edition has been reviewed and
the number of studied countries
increased from the 30 most important
mattress industries worldwide to 35. The
new countries included are: Bulgaria,
Indonesia, Romania, Thailand and South
Africa.
OVERVIEW
Taking a look on mattress production in
the 35 countries studied in the report, we
note that there have been some changes
over the recent years. Traditionally, the
United States was the leading country in
terms of production. Over the last decade
China started a major expansion and until
2012 Chinese mattress production con-tinued
to increase by double-digit growth
rates. In 2013 growth slowed slightly
down and was of 7% in CNY. In 2011
China took over the number one position
in terms of mattress production among
the 35 countries studies putting the U.S.
in second position. Leading mattress
manufacturing countries also include
Brazil, Canada, India and Germany.
Regarding mattress consumption, the
leading country remains by far the U.S.,
accounting for over one fourth of total
consumption in the 35 countries consid-ered.
The U.S. is followed by China,
which recorded the most impressive
increase in terms of mattress consump-tion
over the last decade. Considering
the huge capacity of the local market,
apparent mattress consumption is esti-mated
to continue to increase in 2014.
China is followed by Brazil, Germany,
Canada and France. These top 6 mat-tress
consuming countries account for
approximately 70% of consumption of the
top 35 countries included in CSIL’s World
Mattress Industry report.
FOCUS
STUDIES
BEDDING
by Sylvia Weichenberger
CSIL
INTERNATIONAL TRADE OF MATTRESSES, 60 COUNTRIES 2004-2015, US$ MILLION
Source: CSIL * forecasts
DYNAMIC MARKETS
Over the last decade, the most important
growth rates have been registered by
Asian countries, including China and
Indonesia. It is further interesting to point
out that also some Central and Eastern
European countries including Russia,
Poland and Romania, still comparatively
small mattress consuming markets, regis-tered
significant growth rates. They are
becoming increasingly dynamic local
markets, not yet ‘mature’ as it is the case
for Western European markets like
France and Germany, or North American
markets like the U.S. and Canada.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE CONTINUES
TO GROW
International trade of mattresses contin-ued
to increase in 2013 and reached the
US$ 3.3 billion mark. Forecasts for 2014
and 2015 also indicate an increasing
trend. The ratio of exports over produc-tion
in the mattress segment amounts to
around 15% (it was 8% in 2000).
Although growing, this ratio remains low
compared to the furniture sector.
In the coming years, CSIL estimates that
the overall value for mattress trade will
continue to grow slowly. One of the most
important engines for mattress growth is
the opening of the different mattress mar-kets,
as well as the increasing role of
emerging markets, not only in terms of
productive location for mattress plants
but also in terms of mattress consump-tion.
Another reason is that until recently mat-tresses
were manufactured and sold with-in
the local or neighbouring markets,
being too bulky to be transported eco-nomically
for long distances. Progress in
vacuum packing of mattresses and in
transport logistics has been changing the
economics of mattress trade, and
imports and exports are becoming more
substantial.
Top mattress exporting countries are
China and Poland, followed by Denmark,
Belgium and Italy. In 2012 China became
leading exporter of mattresses among the
35 countries studied. Main mattress
importing countries are the U.S.,
Germany, France, Japan, Canada and
the Netherlands. Looking at the opening
of the markets considered, the share of
imported mattresses in local consump-tion
has been increasing from 8% in
2001 to approximately 12% in 2013. This
import/consumption ratio remains how-

FOCUS
STUDIES
ever still low compared to the furniture
sector.
MATERIAL TRENDS WORLDWIDE
Looking at the various regions of the
world, there are big differences in terms
of mattresses and bases, especially
between the Americas and Europe, as
well as in Asia. Even among the
European countries, the differences of
mattress production and consumption
trends in terms of materials, sizes or
replacement cycles are significant.
Mattress production in North America,
the United Kingdom and Ireland tradition-ally
is mainly concentrated on innerspring
mattresses. Generally in Europe produc-tion
is more concentrated in non-inner-spring
mattresses (foam and latex). In
large areas of Asia, a part of beds used
are still of traditional style.
In Europe the trend towards foam mat-tresses
started years ago. In North
BEDDING
America the trend towards the so called
“specialty bedding”, including all materi-als
other than spring, has recently seen a
growing trend. The positive trend started
in 2010 regarding sales of non-inner-spring
mattresses reversed slightly in
2013 compared to 2012. As a result, the
market share for the non-innerspring
seg¬ment decreased in 2013 in North
America.
The trend worldwide goes towards hybrid
fillings.
The 11th edition of the CSIL report ‘The World Mattress Industry’ is avai-lable
for purchase and immediate download at:
Basic data on production and consumption of mattresses in the top 35
countries: imports, exports, size of markets, profiles of main internatio-nal
manufacturing groups.
Production by material and analysis of the distribution channel.
Outlook for 2014 and 2015 for the international trade of mattresses and
forecasts for market development. Analysis of mattress world trade in
60 countries. Overview of ecological mattresses. Leading producers of
machinery and raw materials for the mattress industry at a world level.
Over 350 pages + list of useful contacts.
Language: English. Year 2014.

World Furniture - International Market Review by CSIL nr. 63 - September 2014

World Furniture - International Market Review by CSIL nr. 63 - September 2014

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World Furniture - International Market Review by CSIL nr. 63 - September 2014