‘Foreign furniture threatens local wood markets’
The influx of imported wood/board is a threat to the survival of the local wood market. Our reporters find out how as stakeholders proffer solution.
Mr. Ikwuje Ola, a carpenter at the Kugbo furniture market in Abuja believes as long as the need for shelter remains, someone will do a piece of furniture at one time or the other, hence he will always be in business.
However, Mr. Ola’s faith is gradually waning due to the influx of foreign furniture and board in the market. “Before now, we use local wood for making bed frames, wardrobes, and cubicles e.t.c but imported wood now flood the markets and they are quite expensive; this has reduced our profit,” Ola said.
Mr Daniel Ebije, another carpenter said the challenge now is customer’s preference for foreign furniture. “The problem is that many customers prefer the furniture built with laminated foreign wood. As the cost of imports rise so does the furniture too, and it is threatening patronage,” he said.
Feeling the pulse of some wood dealers at the furniture market, one of them, Mr. Chinedu Umeokorie said he switched from selling local wood to imported and laminated boards because the market has grown better.
“Although these boards are very expensive, some people still prefer them because they say it adds aesthetics to their beddings, tables, wardrobes and cabinets. Another merit is that you don’t need to paint them. You just cut into shape and size, couple them and the product is fixed in no time,” he explained.
One of our reporters observed that about three to five truckloads of assorted foreign wood brought in through Lagos ports are offloaded at the market on daily basis. There are over 20 shops specialising in the sale of these wood while the shops for local wood are less than eight.
Chief Olowu Ogah, who sells local wood at New Nyanya, a town in Nasarawa state said the influx of imported wood is a threat to the survival of the local wood market.
The imported wood mostly Melanin Face Chip Boards (MFC) can be manufactured in Nigeria. “The sawdust from plain wood usually at the saw mills are recycled to produce these foreign woods. For Nigerians, rather than turn it around, they heap them and set on fire, and would prefer to import MFC from countries like China.
“It is now a big threat as these imported woods look attractive to people than the local ones. What people do not know is that the products are not as real as woods cut from the forest,” Chief Ogah explained.
Chinedu Ngara of Chinex Furniture who has been in carpentry business for almost 10 years said is saddening because government is also a culprit. “It is alarming and saddening that when you go to government offices you cannot find locally made furniture. Our local wood is considered to be one of the best in the world in terms of quality and durability but our people prefer to go for foreign ones,” he said.
Ngara said if the government invests in the business by equipping them or giving them soft loan they will expand, have good equipment and will modify their work.
Mrs Omololami Ajani, MD, Wood-et-al limited corroborates this. “The quality of wood in Nigeria is not bad. It’s the processing that is the issue. We need big factories and machines that consume electricity to process the wood to get the standard of the foreign one,” Ajani said.
She continues “If we have our infrastructure and machines, we can produce to the foreign standard. The value chain now is such that a company like mine producing furniture, should not be the one processing wood. But right now, I have to process and do many things to get a good standard,” she explains.
On how to make local woods attractive, Mr. Ben Tsav a fellow dealer at the large Dei Dei Timber Shed in Abuja said most of the factories like Shour Galleries in Kano state among others that process woods have closed; one of the few local firms operating in Abuja is Grand Furnishing Company Ltd.
“We need government’s intervention in reviving these wood industries that can process and laminate these woods. They will do it better than the imported ones and the prices of buying them will reduce for the carpenters and for the household customers,” Tsav suggested.
The Chairman, Independent Furniture Makers, Idu Abuja, Humphrey Anene said the government can encourage the local carpenters/wood sellers by stopping the importation of foreign woods. If this is done, he says it will help build the furniture making industry and generate employment and income for the country. “There are locally made furniture you see in this market that beats the foreign ones. We are trying our best to make it look attractive but there is no support from government.”
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar, while receiving officers of ‘BuyNaija’ Initiative in her office recently, acknowledged that low patronage of locally made goods is affecting manufacturing in the country.
Abubakar attributed the problem to negative perception of products in the country and few manufacturers that compromise on quality, adding that government was working towards promoting positive brands of the country to increase patronage.
Also, recently, the Acting Director- General of the Bank of Industry, Mr Waheed Olagunju, disclosed that the bank would be disbursing N212 billion worth of loans to eligible entrepreneurs before the end of 2016.
In the meantime, the wood sellers said their major customers now are those doing some building projects as they rely on local woods for roofing, decking, lintels and other support structures.