Furniture exports from East Java to a number of European countries has been predicted to improve in the second quarter of 2016, as Euro has appreciated against the US dollar.

“Orders have been placed, although the number is not significant. Perhaps, it’s the impact of the appreciation of euro against the US dollar,” Ery Sasmito, chairman of the Central Java branch of the Indonesian Furniture Entrepreneurs Association (Asmindo), said on Sunday, May 15, 2016.

Ery did not reveal the exact number of the orders, but he ensured that there would be shipments of products in the near future.

“Hopefully, exports to Europe would grow better after a decline from 2012 to late 2015,” Ery added.

Ery hopes that the appreciation of Euro will reopen furniture markets in the region. Ery revealed that the plummeting sales figure to Europe had caused Central Java’s export growth in 2015 only reached 10 percent.

Ery added that furniture production in Central Java was leveraged with demands from markets with few demands of teak-based products. Such a condition had helped furniture industries who had difficulties in obtaining high quality teak wood.

(Source: tempo.co)