China Wood Monthly reports that the concentration of furniture production areas along the coasts has been growing. These areas have been increasing their market shares, growing to 92.6% of total exports in 2005. Guangdong, a fast increasing coastal producer area, Fujian and Zhejiang make up 78.55% of the country's total furniture output.

This last article of a four part series covers trends in the Canadian office furniture market. Corporate earnings are a significant driving force for office furniture consumption. Canadian business profits (pre-tax) rose by a healthy 11.9% in 2005. Unfortunately, the growth rate did not remain at this high level last year and dropped to 5.0%. The deterioration was and still is partially due to the spillover effect of the worsening American business environment. Furthermore, the strength of the Canadian Dollar also dampened corporate profitability. With Canada's heavy export reliance, any currency shifts are immediately reflected in the bottom line of corporations. Experts believe that pre-tax profit growth in Canada will remain at the same level this year and next.

Governmental expenditures have been growing at a rate of 3.9% in 2006. Experts predict slower growth rates in the years to come, but in view of Canada's continued budget surplus, it is likely that government investments may remain above the 3% growth mark.

The employment market has been a relatively strong segment in the Canadian economy during the past two years. It grew by 2.0% in 2006. This is equivalent to over 200,000 new jobs. However, employment growth is likely to recede to an annual rate of about 1.5% this year and next. Similar to the US, there is sufficient vacant office space available in Canada to accommodate any expansion of office jobs. A possible exception may be Calgary and Toronto where vacancy rates have become quite firm. Commercial construction in Canada has been advancing by 12.9% last year and experts predict an annual growth rate of 7.4% in value during 2007.