COLOMBIA - In the first two months of 2019, Colombian wooden furniture exports increased their upward trend registered over the previous year, reaching USD 7.3 million, against USD 3.9 million in the first two months of 2018, representing a remarkable growth of 89.4%.

It should be noted that exports of wooden furniture in the period greatly exceeded the average growth registered by Colombian external sales in all its headings in the first months of 2019 (-1.2%).

Muebles Jamar led the export segment of wooden furniture with a growth of 277% reaching USD 2.1 million in the first two months of 2019. RTA Muebles was the second largest Colombian exporter with USD 1.04 million, which represented a growth of 7% with respect to the same period of 2018. And with a notorious growth of over 500%, Ind. de Articulos de Madera (IMA) was the third Colombian exporter in the period reaching USD 833 thousand.

The leader of the period, Jamar, is a family owned furniture retail chain founded in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia in 1951. Since 1990, the company began a strategy of regional and international growth, reaching today 19 stores in Colombia and six in Panama. Jamar also operates a furniture distribution and logistics center located in the municipality of Galapa, Atlántico, the largest of the furniture industry in Colombia.

With that it doesn’t come as a surprise that Panama became the main external market for Colombian exports of wooden furniture in the first two months of 2019 with USD 2.68 million, followed by the United States with USD 1.68 million, Mexico with USD 1.08 million and Chile with USD 467 thousand.

In the period Mexico was the market with the highest growth (389%). Panama, the United States and Bolivia also showed significant growth with respect to the same period last year.