Christmas decorations production down 60%

Prague, Nov 3 (CTK) - Production of Christmas decorations in the Czech Republic was 60 percent lower last year than in 2007 and domestic companies turned out decorations for Christmas and other special occasions for Kc210m last year, according to the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) latest data.

In 2000, this production was worth over Kc500m.

Producers have to compete with goods imported from Asia and the economic crisis made things worse, a poll CTK made among Christmas decorations producers today shows.

Glass decorations are increasingly more often being replaced by products from other materials like artificial resins, wood, paper and straw, said Zdenek Thorovsky, executive of the firm Ornex.

The economic recession has affected in particular exports, the poll shows.

Companies often react to the long-term fall in production by layoffs and cost-cutting measures. The company Centroflor of Velky Senov in northern Bohemia, for example, used to have around 150 employees, while now it has only ten, executive Miroslav Vojta said.

Many producers have also been affected by this year's end of jewellery production at Jablonex Group to which many of them used to supply goods. The group ranked among the largest jewellery producers in the world.

Businesses offering packing of Christmas presents, in particular for the corporate sector, face problems as well.

Radka Krivankova, the owner of the firm Ozdobne baleni darku, told CTK that the number of orders from companies sank by up to 50 percent.

Some companies try to use tourism, offering tours of production facilities.

Production of Christmas and other decorations:

Year Production (Kc mil.)
2000 527
2001 423
2002 373
2003 340
2004 363
2005 264
2006 231
2007 241
2008 210

Source: CSU