CEBU CITY, Philippines?After the slowdown in the global furniture market in the past few years, this year appears to augur well for the industry as the demand for mid-level to high-end furniture has started picking up.

The Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation, Inc. (CFIF), the business support organization for the sector, said the furniture industry has not yet recovered from the effects of the economic crisis that led to the shutdown or suspension of operations of many furniture export companies in Cebu but business has started to pick up as shown by recent export figures.

As of the first quarter of 2010, the freight on board value of furniture and furnishings exports out of Cebu was $19,004,642, a 30 percent increase from last year's $13,309,147. In 2nd quarter, the value was $19,598,751, a three percent increase from the output during the first quarter.

?The Cebu furniture sector is coping. We are trying to cope with the realities. We've said we need to retool, reinvent, think out of the box. We did that. We have tightened our belts where we could. Now, we are ready for the upswing,? CFIF president Angela Paulin said in an interview.

Paulin cited 2010 as a busy year for the furniture sector since they embarked on several product development ventures as well as a new project participated in by CFIF to make Cebu a major furniture design destination in Asia.

CFIF is part of the program SMEs for Environment Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency (Smart-Cebu), recipient of a P65-million grant awarded by the European Union and coordinated by the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Asked why furniture demand has picked up, Paulin explained that the market might have started buying again because they have to restock and replenish their inventories.

?It's been close to a year that there was almost no business. It was not dead but we can say it was dormant. Right now, the industry, the buyers, have adjusted to the recession. They need to get used to it. Now, we have the flow. The market has started buying again,? she added.

Data from the CFIF also showed that no new players joined the industry during the first semester. A total of 171 exporters were listed by the Bureau of Cuistoms as having made shipments during the first semester of 2009.

However, only 163 exporters out of the almost 900 exporters in 2008 are operating at present.

Most of the furniture exporters have either shut down or suspended operations until they can fully recover.

Meanwhile, CFIF consultant Ruby Salutan said they have positioned Cebu as a major destination for furniture in Asia.

?We are greening our supply chain (as strengthened by the Smart-Cebu program). We are creating a culture were we can trace the origin of our products. We are ensuring that our production processes adopt sustainable practices,? said Salutan.

Salutan said this was also one way of influencing the market to use sustainable furniture produced in the Philippines.