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Bedroom Furniture Among Crowd's Favourites At KOFURN 2003
There were a variety of furniture and furniture components as well as other related products of 119 exhibitors comprising manufacturers, traders, importers of furniture and furniture parts, interior designers and decorators and design institutes. Besides 69 Korean companies, the fair was also participated by 50 foreign exhibitors from China, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, USA, Thailand, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia. Malaysia had the largest participation among foreign companies with a total of 18 exhibitors housed within the Malaysian Pavilion and four others located outside the pavilion. MTC took up a booth space of 18m2 at the Malaysian Pavilion, displaying posters, brochures and samples of Malaysian timber products such as MDF, HDF, plywood, laminated blackboard, mouldings, particleboard as well as flooring. Of the products displayed by MTC, MDF, plywood and particleboard were popular among visitors. This came as no surprise in view of the growing demand in South Korea for panel products, particularly MDF, as substitutes for the more expensive and harder to get solid woods in recent years. There were also visitors expressing interest in solid wood flooring made of light coloured wood species as well as flooring with heat-retention capability as they are able to provide warmth during harsh winters. Home and office furniture dominated KOFURN 2003 with most of the home furniture using wood as the core material while office furniture was mainly of metal, steel and leather. For home furniture, bedroom and living room sets had a stronger presence than others. Beds were displayed prominently ranging from traditional beds to the more innovative and unconventional ones such as the temperature-adjustable stone bed and the bamboo charcoal bed. Beds and bedding accessories such as mattresses and pillows specially produced for health-conscious consumers were among the crowd's favourites. It was reported that bedroom furniture has a promising market potential in South Korea. This is because more Koreans are said to be willing to buy a good bed with its accessories in order to be able to sleep better. Other apparent trends at the fair were Koreans' willingness to exchange value for comfort in furniture preference and high demand for environmentally friendly and DIY furniture. The younger crowd, on the other hand, showed high interest in furniture with aesthetic and fancy designs. The growth of South Korea's furniture industry was dampened by the regional economic crisis in 1997 but the demand and import of furniture have steadily recovered since 1999. In 2002, import of furniture increased 61% to reach US$381.4 million. China has become the main source of furniture supplying 24.4%, followed by Italy (17.5%), Germany (8.8%), USA (8.3%), Japan (7.2%) and Malaysia (6.7%). |
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The
Korea International Furniture Fair (KOFURN) 2003 was held on 19-22 May at the
Convention and Exhibition Centre in Seoul, South Korea. Organised by the Korea
Federation of Furniture Industry Cooperatives and supported by the Ministry of
Commerce, Industry and Energy with collaboration from several industry
organisations, the fair occupied a total space of 10,638m2 at the
centre.
MTC’s
