COLOMBIA - Colombian wooden furniture exports showed strong growth in 1Q-2018 totaling USD 6.7 million, an increase of 14.6% compared to USD 5.9 million reached in 1Q-2017.

This performance was well above the 9.8% growth of the total of the country's external sales during the first quarter of 2018.

The main destination of Colombian exports of wooden furniture in 1Q-2018 was Panama, registering USD 1.83 million. The United States was the second most important external market in the period, with shipments of USD 1.04 million.

These two main external markets represented 42.9% of the total wooden furniture exports in 1Q-2018. A decrease from the 52.6% of the total exported registered in 1Q-2017 by these two destination markets.

The main exporting company in the 1Q-2018 was again RTA Muebles (formerly RTA Design) with USD 1.79 million, a significant increase of 43.7% in its exports when compared to the 1Q-2017. Exports from RTA Muebles represented 26.7% of the total exported in the category in 1Q - 2018 (1Q- 2017: 21.2%).

The second largest exporter was Muebles Jamar, which doubled its shipments in 1Q-2018 totaling USD 0.97 million, representing 14.3% of the total wooden furniture exports.