Metal furniture manufacturing sector predicted to fall 6.4 per cent this year

“[C]onsiderable import competition and shaky downstream demand” have contributed to revenues among metal furniture makers in Australia falling at an annualised 2.2 per cent per year for the five years to 2025-26, according to new industry analysis from IBISworld.

According to the company’s new Metal Furniture Manufacturing in Australia – Market Research Report (2015-2030), the sector’s revenue will be approximately $813.4 million for the current financial year, a predicted decline of 6.4 per cent.

Besides import competition, rising house prices are slowing demand from the retail market, IBISworld notes, “as a larger renting population has hit demand for long-lasting metal furniture.

“Cost-of-living pressures have expanded demand for convenient and inexpensive alternatives like Amazon and IKEA alternatives, leaving a fragmented market of metal furniture manufacturers competing for a continuously shrinking consumer base.”

Revenues for the sector are predicted to increase over the next five years by an unspecified percentage.

By company number, the number of businesses in the industry has remained relatively stable between 2020 and 2025, declining 0.2 per cent to 476. 85.0 per cent of these are clustered along the eastern seaboard. 

Being located in these regions benefits via “proximity to commercial, industrial and household customers, which comes with the higher populations in these states.” 

The three largest players by revenue are Dexion (Aust), APC Group and Arrowcrest.