The rising price of timber, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, will lead to further price hikes for furniture over the next few months, the industry had warned.
While overall consumer price inflation was 7% in the latest figures, furniture prices were up 17% and the war Ukraine has led to challenges and price rises for those buying wood from eastern Europe.
In early March, timber prices topped US$1,460 per thousand board feet, up from around US$890 at the start of February and the pre-pandemic price of below US$400 at the start of 2020.
Last year prices neared US$1,700 as many lumber mills were shut down during the height of the pandemic, just as millions of locked down consumers embarked on home improvement programmes.
Prices then tumbled back to below US$700 per thousand board feet for much of last summer though by November they began to creep up again.
But even though global prices have started to ease again, UK furniture manufacturers warned of the impact of the Ukraine invasion.
“We have never seen anything like this in terms of across-the-board price increases for materials,” said Sean Holt, the managing director of the British Furniture Manufacturers (BFM).
“It is putting a lot of pressure on manufacturing in the UK and that will have to be shared with retailers and consumers.
“We’ve seen a pattern of material increases over the last two years, but the situation has escalated significantly in recent weeks.
“Compound price hikes of up to 100% are not unusual, and this is on top of the energy cost increases affecting manufacturing. Fuel and labour costs are other factors. Our members are saying there will be further price hikes over the next few months.”