US office furniture shipments down 31%

According to The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) Global Industry forecast model, U.S. office furniture shipments are expected to drop 31 percent this year, to $7.7 billion, when compared with 2008.
The decline in U.S. shipments is expected to slow to just 1 percent, at $7.6 billion, next year.
Until recently, Canada was the largest importer of office furniture into the U.S. decreasing from about 62 percent in 2000 to around 40 percent in 2009, while China has increased its share to about the same from less than 13 percent in 2000.
The overall Wood and Non-Wood product mix remains relatively constant at approximately 25 percent wood product and 75 percent non-wood product.