Romania’s Wood Industry Shifts Export Strategy Toward Higher-Value Products

A major industry with a broad employment base

Romania’s wood industry is seeking to capture more value from its domestic resource base by focusing on processed products, technology and design. The sector covers forestry, wood processing, furniture manufacturing, and pulp and paper, connecting raw-material suppliers with factories serving households, offices, commercial properties and hotels.

According to Antena 3, the industry generates more than 70 billion lei in annual revenue and represents 3.5% of Romania’s gross domestic product. Oana Bodea, chief executive of Kronospan, said the sector supports more than 100,000 people, while other calculations put the number at 150,000. This employment footprint makes the industry particularly important for communities whose local economies depend on forestry and manufacturing.

The sector’s next phase is therefore not simply about increasing the volume of timber produced. Companies and policymakers are concentrating on how much design, technology, labor and creativity can be incorporated into finished goods before they reach domestic or foreign customers.

Furniture reaches customers in 120 countries

Furniture is at the center of Romania’s higher-value export model. Bodea said Romanian furniture reaches 120 countries, giving the industry an unusually broad international presence. Producers supply residential furniture as well as products for commercial spaces, offices and the hotel industry.

Antena 3 reported that furniture exports increased from €2.18 billion in 2016 to €2.49 billion in 2025, a rise of 14%. The figures indicate growth over the period, but they also show why product development matters: access to a large number of markets does not by itself guarantee rapid gains in export value.

Romanian manufacturers have diversified their product ranges and adapted them to the requirements of international buyers. Adrian Pop, state secretary at the Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, said the desired direction is greater innovation and less dependence on raw materials, with the emphasis placed on products carrying high added value.

Technology and circular production shape the strategy

The effort to move further downstream places investment in manufacturing technology, product development and design at the center of the industry’s strategy. For producers, more processing at home can retain a larger share of a product’s value within Romania. For foreign buyers, the shift means a wider offer of finished and specialized goods rather than an export portfolio centered on basic wood products.

Sustainability is another part of this repositioning. Wood stores carbon and can be reused, repaired and recycled—the three activities presented as the pillars of a circular economy. Bodea urged consumers to take unwanted wooden boxes, chairs and tables to collection centers instead of burning them, arguing that recovered material can be turned into new furniture.

Recycling can provide manufacturers with secondary raw material while reducing the loss of usable wood. Its industrial impact will depend on collection systems and manufacturers’ ability to incorporate recovered material into commercially competitive products. The underlying objective is consistent with the wider export strategy: extracting more economic value from each unit of wood.

The furniture manufacturing and retail segment remains one of the largest contributors to Romania’s processing industry. The latest figure cited by Antena 3 puts its total fiscal impact at 7.7 billion lei in 2024. With sales spread across 120 foreign markets, the industry’s competitive position will increasingly depend on whether investment in technology, differentiated products and circular production can raise value faster than physical output.