The Middle East conflict is impacting Indian homes. Furniture makers face rising costs for materials like foam and lacquer due to global shipping disruptions. Companies are absorbing these increases for now. Consumers are becoming cautious with sp...
The Middle East conflict is beginning to show up far from the battlefield, in Indian living rooms.
Furniture makers say the cost of making sofas, wardrobes and modular kitchens has climbed sharply as war-led disruptions push up prices of foam, packaging, lacquer, hardware and freight, forcing companies to absorb higher costs for now, even as consumer price hikes become increasingly difficult to avoid.
Input costs have sharply risen, while longer shipping routes and delayed cargo are stretching delivery timelines and squeezing business margins.
At furniture brand Orange Tree, the spike in input costs has become increasingly difficult to ignore. “The cost of packaging has increased by 70%, petroleum-based products such as lacquer and polishing materials have increased by 25%, and foam has increased by over 45%,” Gaurav Jain, Founder and Creative Director at Orange Tree, told ET Online, adding that the firm is currently absorbing the increase instead of passing it on to consumers.
DesignCafe, meanwhile, expects the overall pricing impact to be in the range of 10–15%, with price revisions for new customers likely in the coming months.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We are currently experiencing significant supply-side pressures, with input costs rising across key materials such as plywood, adhesives, edge banding and hardware,” Shezaan Bhojani, CEO and Co-Founder of DesignCafe, told ET Online. “This is expected to have a notable impact on overall pricing, in the range of 10–15%.”
India’s plywood sector is heavily dependent on petrochemical inputs such as methanol, resins and formaldehyde used in adhesive formation. Since many of these materials are imported from the Middle East, disrupted supply chains, rising crude prices and uncertainty in chemical supplies are pushing up production costs amid the war between the US, Israel and Iran.
The pressure is not limited to raw materials. Companies say global shipping disruptions and rerouted cargo movement amid the West Asia conflict have pushed up freight costs and delayed deliveries, affecting supply chains and inventory planning.
Freight costs have shot up in the recent months as there is a cut in shipping capacity across key routes, including the Strait of Hormuz that has led to a shortage of raw chemicals required for the production of plywood, adhesives, foam and polish.
ADVERTISEMENT
As Jain noted, shipments to the US that earlier took less than a month are now taking 45–60 days, forcing companies to rethink production timelines and maintain buffer inventories to avoid supply shocks.
Orange Tree, however, is witnessing a more cautious consumer mood. “Consumers are cautious and have cut down on discretionary spending, so we are focusing on more value-led products with transparent pricing,” Jain said. He added that customers are increasingly prioritising longevity, functionality and sustainability over impulse purchases and status-driven spending.
That divergence is leaving companies with a difficult balancing act: protecting affordability without hurting margins. DesignCafe said it would honour existing prices for customers whose projects move into production this month, absorbing part of the increase internally. Others are relying on material optimisation, design changes and tighter vendor partnerships to offset inflationary pressures.
Yet, the impact on consumer demand appears uneven across the industry. While some firms are seeing caution creep into discretionary spending, larger organised retailers say premium demand remains resilient despite global uncertainty.
“We have not seen any slowdown in demand, and the business continues to demonstrate strong resilience,” Jayanti Ganguly, CEO of Home Centre India, told ET Online, adding that the company closed FY26 with high double-digit growth, with premium furniture witnessing the fastest expansion. “Premium segment has seen the fastest growth — indicating consumers continue to prioritize quality and aesthetics,” she said.
“Our focus is on delivering strong values without compromising on quality,” Ganguly said. “We are leveraging design innovation, material optimisation, and vendor partnerships.”
The disruptions are also accelerating a broader shift towards domestic sourcing and supply-chain diversification.
As the Home Centre India chief said, India’s vendor ecosystem has helped the brand remain agile despite external disruptions, while Orange Tree has reworked sourcing strategies around locally available materials, shorter production cycles and flexible manufacturing timelines.
Industry executives say the biggest risks for the sector over the next few years will stem from geopolitical uncertainty, elevated freight and commodity costs, and a potential slowdown in discretionary consumption if inflationary pressures persist.
At the same time, firms are also racing to improve “speed-to-market” as rapidly changing consumer preferences intensify competition across price segments.
“Geopolitical uncertainties impacting demand and input costs remain key risks,” Ganguly said. The Orange Tree leader added that disruptions from wars and geopolitical tensions create volatility that significantly impacts the broader economy and consumer sentiment.
For now, furniture makers are trying to shield consumers from immediate sticker shock by absorbing rising costs and recalibrating sourcing strategies. But if freight rates remain elevated and crude-linked inputs continue to rise, the next casualty of the West Asia conflict may simply be the price of a new sofa.
