USA - After a long run of gains was broken in February, US imports of wooden furniture picked up again in March, gaining 18%. Imports climbed back above the USD 2 billion mark for the month reaching USD 2.05 billion.

Imports are up 39% over 2020 in the the first quarter of 2021. Except for China, which only saw 2% growth, imports from all major supplying countries rose by more than 10% in March. Imports from Vietnam were up 20% in March and are ahead by 56% year to date compared to 1Q-2020.

Meanwhile, the overall US furniture market continues to deal with supply backlog concerns.

New orders in February were up 34% over February 2020, marking the 9th straight month of large double-digit percentage increases, according to the latest Smith-Leonard survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributers.

New orders were up for 94% of survey participants. While shipments were up 18% over February 2020 and are now up 13% year-to-date, new orders again exceeded shipments.

This led to more growth in backlogs, up 5%over January and a whopping 184% over February 2020.