Coronavirus: Malta furniture manufacturers ask for aid as demand plummets

Maltese manufacturers of furniture are losing significant demand and have put most work on hold as suppliers close shop due to coronavirus directives.

The Malta Furniture Manufacturers Organisation has said that furniture manufacturers, most of which are run by family businesses, are bracing themselves for the worst but would like to see further government aid rolled out to help such companies.

“Whilst the general impression is that the industry is working as normal, I can assure you that it is not. Starting off, due to social distancing measures, we have most of our suppliers which typically operate from their outlets and also by visiting manufacturing facilities, closing their shops and most are not visiting in a bid to protect themselves, their employees and their customers,” the organisation said.

MFMO’s President, Malcolm Bartolo, said that this has drastically affected sales and was straining financial resources. 

Manufacturing work has been put on hold as those servicing the financial sector have customers who have either closed down or reduced their operations, such as those working directly within the tourist industry.

“A big number of architects and designers who typically also follow such works have also opted not to do site visits to protect their staff. Manufacturers who service the domestic sector also have a decline in work as obviously people are less comfortable to go out to place orders, other clients have asked to keep orders on hold as they do not know what their economic future holds and also some customers are uncomfortable to have installers coming to their homes due to fears of a viral transmission,” MFMO said.

In a recently improved care package, the government said it would finance a full five-day workweek at a minimum of €800 per month for all workers and self-employed in critical sectors that were decimated by the coronavirus measures.

However, MFMO said that this was not enough, especially in view that typical salaries in the sector are much higher than this amount. The organisation said that most manufacturers are small family businesses with an average of two to four employees. 

“[They] are worried for how long they can sustain their employees and their businesses. Whilst we are bracing ourselves for the worst, we hope that further aid shall be rolled out to help such companies. 

“Once this is all over, we would like to see the local community stick together to get out of this difficult period and try to work with local businesses to help them restart and create a momentum where things can hopefully come back to normal quicker,” Bartolo said.