The European Federation of the Parquet Industry (FEP) expresses mixed feelings about the European markets for parquet during the first half of 2019: from slight improvements on most of the biggest markets to stable or moderately decreasing trends on others.

When compared to the same period last year, the provisional results for the first semester of 2019 point to diverging trends. On the one hand, consumption continues to show positive developments in Germany (the biggest European market for parquet) Austria, France, Poland and Spain. On the other hand, flat or slightly declining consumption trends are observed in Italy, Switzerland and Benelux. Scandinavia is presenting a mixed picture.

FEP: “The competition of Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) is well present throughout Europe. But, in terms of competition, the Board of Directors of FEP especially highlights the impacts of the so-called ‘trade war’ between the US and China on the European market. These impacts have been recently reinforced by another round of tariffs increases.” A brief per country recap is provided below.

Austria
The Austrian parquet market performed well during the first semester of 2019 compared to the same period last year, although consumption is expected to slow down during the third quarter of the year.

Belgium
The information available show a flat to declining market during the first six months of 2019. This trend is not expected to upturn in the coming months.

Denmark
Compiled data point to a progressing Danish parquet market during the first part of 2019, but, as sales of new houses in cities are decreasing, there are worries that this trend cannot be sustained in time.

Finland
Parquet sales continue to rise in Finland, but the Finnish market is lacking visibility and any peak of activity observed does not seem sustainable.

France
The French market performed well during the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, especially during the first quarter.

Germany
After upturning, and improving slightly during the first semester, the German market is now stable and no further progress in consumption is expected by the end of 2019, which should show a slight increase by 1% for the year as a whole.

Italy
Italian parquet sales declined during the first six months of 2019 compared to the same period last year, reflecting the continuation of the economic slowing down, a low level of construction activity and a decreasing renovation segment.

Netherlands
The information received point to a decline of the parquet sales in the Netherlands during the first half of 2019. This slowing down of activity on the Dutch market is expected to continue for the rest of the year, reflecting the competition from LVT solutions.

Norway
Compiled data indicate that the Norwegian market decreased significantly during the first semester of 2019, mirroring the competition from LVT.

Poland
The Polish consumption of parquet rose notably during the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.

Spain
The Spanish parquet market improved slightly during the first half of 2019. However, the performance was already less important during the second quarter than the first one and the political situation, with the new elections, is not supporting economic growth.

Sweden
The Swedish market for parquet is slightly declining, reflecting the reduction of new residential segment while renovation is still performing well. No recovery is forecast for this year.

Switzerland
As expected, the parquet consumption in Switzerland was flat to slightly declining during the first six months of 2019.

FEP/GFA, October 2019
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After three years of moderate growth or stabilisation, and despite a generally good start of the year, the overall consumption figures of parquet in Europe downturned for 2018. FEP data are pointing to a slight contraction of the global European market by 2,3% in 2018 compared to 2017.

As was witnessed in the past, the results show some variation from country to country. The market contraction is mainly due to decreases of parquet consumption observed in Germany and Switzerland, and, to a lesser extent, in the Nordic Cluster and the Benelux.

Consumption in the FEP area declined by 2,3% to reach 79.854.300 m2 compared to 81.732.014 m2 the year before. In terms of consumption per country, Germany remains in first position, despite its still declining market, with 18,78% and is followed by Italy at 11,56%. France completes the podium with 10,59%. Sweden at 10,42% gets the fourth seat. Austria with 8,15% keeps its fifth position while the Nordic Cluster (7,81%) and Switzerland (7,25%) come in sixth and seventh position respectively.

As regards the per capita parquet consumption, Sweden keeps the first seat (0,81 m2) before Austria (0,74 m2) and Switzerland (0,67 m2). In the total FEP area, the consumption per inhabitant remains stable at 0,19 m2 in 2018.

The production in FEP territory declined moderately by 1,3%, but exceeds the 75 million square meter threshold: 75.335.600 m2. The European production outside FEP countries is at an estimated 14,8 million square meters – 9,2 million square meters produced in EU countries and 5,6 million square meters in European non-EU countries. Taking into account the total production in Europe (FEP countries + non-FEP countries in Europe) implies that production in 2018 fell moderately by 0,8% and exceeded 90 million m2.

In absolute production figures by country, Poland maintains its top position at 17,37%. Sweden keeps its second place on the podium with 15,22%. It is followed by Austria at 12,76%, while Germany comes in as fourth (9,51%).

The 2018 total parquet production per type remains similar to the picture already presented from 2010 onwards, whereby multilayer comes in first with 82% (compared to 81% in 2017), being followed by solid (including lamparquet) with a stable 17% and mosaic at 1% of the total cake (compared to 2%).

The usage of wood species in 2018 indicates that the share of oak remains stable and reaches 80,3% compared to 80,6% in 2017. Tropical wood species use represents 3,7% of used wood. Ash and beech remain the two other most common chosen species with 6,8% and 2,1% (compared to 6,2% and 2,4% in 2017) respectively.

FEP: “After three years of moderate growth or stabilisation, the overall consumption figures of parquet in Europe slightly downturned for 2018. While the market is still lacking visibility for the coming months, the European parquet markets are generally showing stable to slightly positive trends for the three first months of 2019 when compared to the same period in 2018, pointing to stable or moderately increasing parquet consumption. Furthermore, parquet consumption restarted to grow in Germany, the main European parquet market. On the other hand, the competition from ‘wood like’ flooring solutions, especially from LVT, remains harsh.”

The federation continues: “As regards raw material, there is no shortage of wood for the time being, but affordability is decreasing also for layers (HDF, plywood) other than the top one. At European level, FEP welcomes the increasing recognition by the EU authorities of the positive contribution of wood products, including parquet, to fight climate change and to support Circular Economy, Circular Bioeconomy & sustainability. This recognition should be now translated into supportive policies for our industry and used to convince the end-consumer.”

Production and consumption developments 2018/2017.

FEP/GFA, June 2019
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The European parquet markets are generally showing stable to slightly positive trends, according to a market update by the European Federation of the Parquet Industry (FEP).

When compared to the same period last year, the provisional results for the three first months of 2019 indicate stable or moderately increasing parquet consumption, except for Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom which are reporting limited declines in parquet sales. On the other hand, according to FEP, parquet consumption restarted to grow in Germany.

FEP: “While there is no shortage of raw material for the time being, affordability is decreasing also for layers (HDF, plywood) other than the top one.” A brief per country market recap is provided below.

Austria
The Austrian parquet sales slightly increased by 1% during the first quarter 2019 compared to the first three months of 2018.

Belgium
Available information indicates that parquet consumption fell by 4% during the first quarter 2019 compared to the same period last year, reflecting among others the competition from ‘wood look’ floor coverings.

Baltic States
Baltic countries’ markets remained stable during the first quarter of the current year.

Czech Republic
Data points to a positive development on the Czech parquet market for the three first months of 2019.

Denmark
The Danish parquet market remained flat, supported by the performance of residential building which is observable in the whole Nordic Cluster (Denmark, Finland and Norway).

Finland
Parquet sales were stable on the Finnish market during the first quarter 2019 – residential market is performing well while retail is declining.

France
After a difficult fourth quarter 2018, the French market developed slightly positively during the three first months of the year 2019. As the first quarter 2018 was also relatively good, this can be seen as an encouraging trend although the market is lacking visibility, especially as some contracts are reaching an end.

Germany
Parquet sales upturned by 4% in Germany during the first quarter 2019. Even if the first quarter 2018 showed a very low level of consumption, the current trend reflects better market conditions.

Italy
The Italian parquet market remained flat during the three first months of the current year. No improvement is expected as there are some uncertainties regarding the forthcoming EU elections.

Netherlands
The information received points to a decline of the parquet sales (-4%) on the Dutch market during the first quarter 2019, reflecting the competition from ‘wood look’ floor coverings.

Norway
Data indicates that the Norwegian market remained flat during the three first months of 2019, which is encouraging compared to the significant decreases in parquet consumption reported last year.

Poland
An increase by 2% of the parquet sales is reported for Poland during the first quarter 2019 compared to the same period last year.

Spain
The Spanish market was stable during the first quarter of the year 2019, echoing the uncertain political context.

Sweden
Parquet consumption continued to slightly rise by 1% during the first quarter 2019 compared to the first quarter 2018. Renovation is the main driver of the Swedish market.

Switzerland
Data indicates that parquet consumption fell by 2% in Switzerland during the three first months of 2019, reflecting the completion of new construction projects.

United Kingdom
Information available points to a slight decline by 1% of the parquet consumption on the British market during the three first months of 2019. The influence of the Brexit is starting to be discernible.

FEP/GFA, May 2019
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The European Federation of the Parquet Industry (FEP) estimates, as a preliminary forecast, that the overall consumption figures of the European Parquet Industry for the year 2018 have moderately contracted by a bit less than 2%.

After three years of moderate growth or stabilisation, and despite a generally good start of the year, the consumption figures of parquet in Europe downturned for 2018. A drop close to 2% is forecasted for the whole year. As was witnessed in the past, the results show some variation from country to country, FEP explains.

The market contraction is mainly due to decreases of parquet consumption observed in Germany, Switzerland and the Nordic market (Denmark, Finland and Norway) as a whole. The Nordic market remains volatile with regional differences reflecting the evolution of residential building activity. Finally, France and Benelux are also reporting declines in consumption.

On the contrary, parquet market continues to improve in Austria, Italy and Poland, while it is stable in Spain and Sweden. Complete market data will to be communicated at FEP’s annual General Assembly mid-June in Lisbon, Portugal.

FEP continues: “The FEP Board of Directors fears that the negative trends will continue in the concerned countries at the beginning of 2019. The captains of the industry also underline the still harsh competition from ‘wood like’ flooring solutions, especially from LVT. On the other hand, FEP welcomes the increasing recognition by the EU authorities of the positive contribution of wood products, including parquet, to fight Climate Change and to support Circular Economy, Circular Bioeconomy & sustainability.”

FEP/GFA, January 2019
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In 2018, manufacturing members of the EPLF achieved worldwide sales of European-produced laminate flooring totalling 455 million m² (2017: 477 million m², which corresponds to -4.6%). In Western Europe, the ‘home market’ of the EPLF, sales declined further in 2018, whilst Latin America and Asia once again recorded the biggest increases. North America saw a reduction in sales, whereas Eastern Europe remained stable.

In Western Europe (including Turkey), total sales reached 225 million m² in 2018 (2017: 243 million m²). This represents a drop of -7.3% compared to the previous year. Germany was still by far the most important individual market in Central Europe with 52 million m2 (2017: 57 million m²) – albeit with a -8.3% reduction caused by the continuing trend towards substitution with alternative flooring types, EPLF explains.

France continues to occupy second place in Europe, declining slightly in 2018 with 36 million m² (2017: 37.6 million m²). The positive trend for EPLF members did not continue in the United Kingdom: at 29.8 million m² for 2018 (2017: 33.8 million m2), a further reduction of -11.8% was recorded. This puts the UK in third place again for sales in Western Europe – ahead of Turkey, where laminate revenues for the association continued to decline in 2018, falling -18.2% down to 20.4 million m² (2017: 24.9 million m²). The Netherlands remains in fifth place with sales figures of 18.3 million m² (2017: 19.7 million m²). Once again, Spain follows on behind with a stable outcome of just under 16.5 million m² (2017: 17 million m²).

In Eastern Europe, although the upward trend of the previous years cannot continue, its stable result, according to the association, means this region will nevertheless continue to be an important market for EPLF producers in future. Sales within the area reached around 128 million m² (2017: 128 million m²) in 2018. The EPLF is aware that in 2017 just under 28 million m² of laminate produced by Russian members was not covered by the statistics for various reasons. In 2018, EPLF members in Russia reported sales of 39 million m² (2017: 36 million m²), which corresponds to a growth rate of 10.6%. Poland achieved a consistent result in 2018 at over 29 million m² (2017: more than 30 million m²). Romania exhibited a slightly weaker outcome, however, with 11 million m2 (2017: 13.2 million m²). Behind Romania, in the same order as before, are: Ukraine with 7.6 million m² (2017: 7.4 million m²) i.e. +4% growth, Hungary at 7 million m² (2017: 6.5 million m²) and Bulgaria with 4.4 million m² (2017: 5 million m²).


At 44.3 million m² (2017: 49 million m²), total sales for North America in 2018 stand at around -10.4% down against the previous year. With around 30.7 million m² sold in 2018 (2017: 32 million m2), the USA exhibited a slight reduction of -2.4%, whilst Canada recorded just under 13.6 million m² for 2018 (2017: 18 million m²), representing a drop of -24.5%.

The biggest increase in 2018 was 7.8%, gained in Africa, although total sales there only amounted to 5 million m². The region of Latin America again recorded an increase in EPLF sales statistics, achieving a growth rate of +4.7% for 2018 with 18.5 million m² (2017: 17.7 million m²). Sales figures for Chile, the largest individual market, rose by +5% compared with the previous year, standing at 8.1 million m² (2017: 7.7 million m²). Mexico recorded 3.9 million m² (2017: 4.3 million m²), Columbia registered 2.1 million m² (2017: 1.6 million m²), and the poor economic situation in Argentina led to a downturn to 1.5 million m² (2017: 2.1 million m²).

In the Asia region, EPLF producers achieved total sales of around 30 million m² (2017: 29 million m²) in 2018, representing a rise of around +2.8% over the previous year. The number one position for Asia in 2018 was again held by China (including Hong Kong), although figures were down -7.2% compared to the previous year: sales there reached 8.9 million m2 (2017: 9.6 million m²). The EPLF is encouraged to see ongoing growth in Kazakhstan, where market data has been gathered since 2016: 4 million m² sold (2017: 3.6 million m²), an increase of +11%. Israel attained 2.3 million m² (2017: 2.2 million m²), Saudi Arabia rose slightly with 2.9 million m² (2017: 2.7 million m2); behind this lies Uzbekistan with nearly 2.1 million m² (previous year 0.8 million m²) followed by Taiwan with 1.7 million m² (2017: just under 1.8 million m2) and Azerbaijan with 1.6 million m² (2017: 0.9 million m2). Meanwhile, it appears laminate has also gained a foothold in the huge Indian market: in 2018, EPLF members achieved sales there of 1.6 million m² (2017: 1.4 million m²).

EPLF/GFA, January 2019
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Sales figures for members of the Multilayer Modular Flooring Association (MMFA) continued to rise in 2018, and in 2019 the association forecasts continuing sales growth for all product categories and markets within the modular multilayer flooring (MMF) segment.

For MMF flooring with HDF core, the association currently estimates that its members hold a world market share in excess of 90%. By 2017, MMFA producers had already achieved global sales in this category of almost 10 million m2, of which 80% were accounted for by Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2018, the total quantity rose to 12 million m2.

For modular multilayer products based on polymer or polymer composite, MMFA members worldwide achieved sales of 62 million m2 in 2018 (2017: over 48 million m2), of which more than 31 million m2 (2017: 23 million m2) came from Western Europe and around 26 million m2 (2017: 21 million m2) from North America. In 2018, MMFA members in Germany achieved sales of wood-based and polymer-based products amounting to nearly 20 million m2 (2017: just under 15 million m2) – continuing the upward trend.

Last november, members of the MMFA agreed to reclassify the various MMF product groups. The category ‘Wood’ (previously Class 1) applies to products with a wood-based core. The category ‘Polymer’ (previously Class 2) includes polymer-based and polymer composite-based substrates and is divided into heterogeneous, (semi-) resilient LVT Click products (mostly in accordance with EN 10582) and the more stable Rigid products (usually in accordance with EN 16511). ‘Rigid’ includes polymer Click products based on either EPC (Expanded Polymer Core – polymer foam middle layer) or SPC (Solid Polymer Core – high-filled middle layer). Lastly, the category ‘Mixed’ includes all other types of construction (previously Class 3). In all three categories, the polymers can be either PVC or other synthetic material alternatives.

This environmentally-friendly flooring is based on leather fibre material made from genuine recycled, chrome-free leather, natural latex, natural fat and natural tanning agents. (Photo: Li&Co AG)

MMFA/GFA, January 2019
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