BIFMA Revises 2010 Office Furniture Forecast

Posted by Expert Gadget Reviewer on Tuesday 1 June 2010

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA), has revised their 2010 forecast (again), now looking for a -5.1% decline in shipments for the year, versus the -3.8% decline they revised back in March (BIFMA Updates 2010 Office Furniture Forecast). BIFMA is now looking for 2010 production of $7.45 billion. For some historical perspective, BIFMA records go back to 1991, and only 1991 had lower production numbers than the current forecast for 2010.

The silver lining in the cloudy forecast is that Office Furniture is mirroring Commercial Real Estate (CRE Forecast - 2010 BAD - 2011 - Better...), which is looking for a strong rebound in 2011. BIFMA is calling for a sharp +11.1% increase of Office Furniture production in 2011, to $8.27 billion. While any increase is welcome, a quick check of the historical data shows that we have to go all the way back to 1993, to find lower production numbers than the current forecast for 2011.