Export earnings from the furniture sector witnessed a fall in the current financial year, hit by depreciation of currencies in some key importing countries.
They also said higher import duty on some kinds of timber and other raw materials is making local products less competitive resulting in the shipment fall.
The Export Promotion Bureau data showed that local furniture exporters brought home US $42.58 million in last fiscal year (FY'14) by achieving a 35.5 per cent growth.
The Bureau data revealed that export earnings from the sector witnessed a 10 to 15 per cent decline in the July-April period of the current fiscal year (FY'15).
In the period, local businesses exported furniture worth $32.2 million, which is about 12 per cent less than that of the last fiscal year.
Export of furniture increased by more than 100 per cent just in three years---$42.58 million in FY'14 from $21.38 million in FY'11.
According to the Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association (BFEA) and Bangladesh Furniture Shilpa Malik Samity (BFSMS), the two key platforms of the country's furniture makers, Bangladeshi furniture is exported mainly to the EU, the Middle-East and India.
And a small amount is also sent to Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Russia, Thailand and the USA.
Bangladesh exports furniture for dining room, kitchen room, garden, living room and home furnishing.
KM Akhtaruzzaman, president of BFEA said that higher price as well as restriction of Chinese products to many countries had given the opportunity to the Bangladeshi products.
He said: "But depreciation of currencies like Indian Rupee and Euro against the US Dollar has come as a severe blow to the furniture export".
"The consequence is that volume of export is almost static but its value has declined," said Mr Akhtaruzzaman, also managing director of Akhtar Furnishers Ltd.
Managing director of Nadia Furniture Ltd A Karim Mojumder said the furniture industry is 80 per cent dependent on imported raw materials including timber, plywood, machineries and other items.
If the government cuts back duty on import of raw materials, which ranges from 7.0 per cent to 54 per cent, production cost will go down, helping the local products to compete in the global market.
He urged the government to consider the matter in the upcoming budget for the next financial year to boost furniture export.
However, following a depression in the furniture sector the country's import of different varieties of timber plunged by 13-16 per cent in 2014, according to the Chittagong Customs House and the Teknaf Land Port.
Import of different varieties of timber (in raw form) dropped to 52,957 tonnes in 2014, which was 60,047 tonnes (HS Code 44039900) in 2013 -- a 12 per cent fall in a year, data from the Chittagong Customs House showed.
Timber import through the Teknaf Land Port from Myanmar also witnessed a more than 16 per cent fall in the last calendar year, Romendu Bikash Chakma, Traffic Inspector at the port, said.
The local makers produce furniture made of wood, bamboo, wicker, metal, plastic, glass and concrete.
Around 40,000 enterprises employ more than 0.2 million skilled and semi-skilled people in the furniture sector.
Annual turnover of the industry is now around Tk 170 billion including local sale and export, according to BFEA and BFSMS.
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