The European Federation of the Parquet Industry (FEP) estimates that global parquet consumption in 2011 on the European market remained stable in comparison with the previous year.

The general picture, however, is not uniform and the market performance varies considerably from country to country. First indications point towards a similar situation as regards parquet production, though complete data are not yet available to FEP at this stage. FEP wishes to underscore that this is a first prognosis and that variations still cannot be excluded at the present time. The data received by FEP suggest that the total parquet consumption in the EU/EFTA area has stabilized at around 95 million m2, with growth especially on the German, Austrian, Swiss and Swedish markets. Some other important countries are still facing difficulties, though there are first indications of a slow but gradual unbending of the protracted strain in Spain.

According to FEP, the preliminary result is in line with expectations and developments witnessed in the course of the past year and reflects the impact of the prolonged economic and financial crisis dragging on for an excessive period of time, and certainly longer than the industry and all other echelons of society had hoped for. “Under the circumstances, the overall performance of our industry is certainly commendable. Parquet is very much alive and one can only hope that the promising results attained by certain countries will gradually spread to other regions as well thereby contributing to the much desired uniformity in the FEP territory,” commented FEP President Lars Gunnar Andersen. “Raw material availability and related cost evolution, as well as the persisting fierce competition with products from Asian countries remain the main concerns for our European parquet producers and are both an obstacle and a challenge for developing sound and lasting future business strategies.” Full and definitive data will be diffused at the federations General Assembly in early June.<

GFA/FEP, January 2012
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In 2011, the 22 ordinary member companies of EPLF – producers of laminate floors – were able to achieve global sales of 468 million m2 of laminate flooring produced in Europe (previous year: 487 million m2). This marks a 4 % drop in the global sales of EPLF member companies.

The Western European core markets of the European laminate flooring industry have shown an overall stable performance in 2011. A slight decrease of 1 % could be recorded. In absolute figures, sales have dropped from 302 million m2 in 2010 to 299 million m2 in 2011. Germany remains the largest single European market, with sales of 80 million m2 (previous year: 83 million m2). Turkey lies in second place with 54 million m2 (54 million m2 in the previous year). This positive result was caused by the Turkish EPLF member companies, as well as the positive economic growth in this country. Sales in France, which takes third place, have remained stable with 41 million m2 (previous year: 41 million m2). Coming in fourth, Great Britain is able to record its first plus in years with 30 million m2 (previous year: 29 million m2), while the Netherlands take fifth place with 21 million m2 (previous year: 21 million m2).

In 2011, the European producers of laminate flooring sold 103 million m2 (previous year: 109 million m2) in Eastern Europe. This represents a decrease of 5.5 %, compared to the previous year. Poland is at the helm of the sales ranking with 26 million m2 (previous year: 29 million m2). Russia is the runner-up; with 25 million sold m2 (previous year: 25 million m2), it is the second largest Eastern European market. Romania lies in third place with 9 million m2 (previous year: 13 million m2). While sales have decreased in Romania, Ukraine has fought its way up to fourth place with 8 million m2 (previous year: 6 million m2). Hungary remains in fifth place with 6 million m2 (previous year: 6 million m2).

In 2011, a drastic decline on the North American market could be observed: sales decreased from annual sales figures of 41 million m2 in 2010 to 27 million m2. As expected, the US market accounts for the lion’s share. In 2010, sales figures of 24 million m2 were recorded here, but only 13 million m2 in 2011. According to EPLF, this is caused by the difficult economic situation in the USA. However, there has also been a decrease on the Canadian market with 13 million m2, compared to with 17 million m2 in the previous year. In Asia, European manufacturers sold roughly 11 million m2, which marks a slight increase in sales. This can be attributed to markets such as Israel and Iran. The Chinese market also records a slight growth, due to exports of the European producers in the high-quality segment. South America remains stable at 16 million m2, with sales largely distributed to two markets: the Chilean and the Mexican. However, the Argentinian market is also performing well, EPLF concludes.

GFA/EPLF, January 2012
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