U.S. factories post more gains
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 2, 2004
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — U.S. residential furniture factories posted their third monthly gain in a row in new orders in November, and an updated forecast calls for more improvement this year, according to BDO Seidman.
The accounting and consulting firm said its factory survey showed gains of 3% in orders and 4% in shipments compared with November 2002.
BDO expects shipments will show a 1% decline for all of 2003 but will bounce back with an 8% gain this year. That still would leave U.S. manufacturers about 1% below their peak year of 2000, the firm said. Shipments fell 9.5% in 2001 and rose 2.5% in 2002.
Orders rose in November for the third consecutive month and the fifth time in the past six months, with August basically flat. The increases haven't quite made up for a weak first half, however.
November's gains weren't as widespread as in the previous two months, BDO said. Orders rose for about half of the survey participants in the latest survey, compared with 62% in October and 58% in September.
Factory backlogs were off 11% in November, possibly because compared with last year, more factories had October market introductions ready to ship quickly.
Several months of rising orders and shipments make it "somewhat safe to say the industry is beginning to move in the right direction," said Ken Smith, national director of BDO's Furniture Industry Services, in the firm's monthly Furniture Insights newsletter.
"While the good news is refreshing, the news has not been good for all. There are a number of businesses out there that are hurting," he said. "Even an 8% increase in shipments this year may not be enough. We would hope that a good 2004 could at least stop some of the bleeding."
| Factory orders, shipments in November | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| In billions of dollars | Change from | ||
| Oct. '03 | Nov. '02 | ||
| Source: BDO Seidman | |||
| Orders | $2.215 | -4% | 3% |
| Shipments | 2.149 | -5% | 4% |
| Order backlog | 1.689 | 2% | -11% |
| January-November | Change from 2002 | ||
| Orders | $22.294 | -3% | |
| Shipments | 22.730 | -2% | |
