The Board of Directors of the European Federation of the Parquet Industry met on 4 April 2018 and discussed amongst others both the parquet situation and recent economic indicators on the European market.
The European markets are generally in a positive mood and experience slight growth. When compared to the same period last year, the provisional results for the first quarter of 2018 point to a continuation of the moderately positive parquet consumption trends observed in 2017 with the exception of Germany which is reporting a significant decrease.
Projects are the main driver of the market although renovation should create additional activity. In spite of the long and wet winter, the availability of raw material is not a critical issue for the time being. Nevertheless, as efficient harvesting has been demanded from forest-owners and sawmillers, small formats are now unfortunately lacking.
A brief per country recap is provided in the table below.
Market overview
| Austria
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The Austrian parquet sales continued to increase by 2% during the first quarter 2018 compared to the same period last year.
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| Belgium
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The indications available point towards a growth of 3% of the parquet consumption during the first three months of 2018.
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| Baltic States
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Baltic countries’ markets are showing a slightly positive trend during the first quarter 2018.
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| Denmark
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The Danish parquet market remains flat, reflecting the decrease on the retail market which is compensated by the increases observed for contracts and projects. | |||
| Finland
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Parquet sales slightly rise by 1% on the Finnish market – (large) projects are the main driver of this moderate growth while the residential market is stable. | |||
| France
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The French market continues to develop positively. Parquet sales grew by an estimated 2% during the first quarter 2018. | |||
| Germany
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Data indicate that parquet sales fell by 5% during the first quarter of the current year, compared to the first quarter 2017 which was good. This decrease reflects the subdued residential market, the lack of installers which leads to shifting of projects, the competition from “wood look” floor coverings and the disappearing spaces for hardwood flooring on shelfs in DIY.
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| Netherlands
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The information received points to a confirmation of the improvements already observed on the Dutch market – parquet sales increased by an estimated 3% during the first quarter 2018. | |||
| Norway
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Compiled data indicate that the Norwegian market is flat to slightly improving (0-1%) during the first months of 2018. | |||
| Spain
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Despite the turbulent political situation, the Spanish market seems to evolve slowly but positively by 1 to 2% during the first quarter of the year 2018.
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| Sweden
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The trends observed in 2017 are continuing and the parquet consumption rose by 2% during the first quarter 2018 compared to the same period last year. Sales in retailing decrease while project markets keep growing. Sweden is currently the most dynamic market in Scandinavia.
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| Switzerland | Parquet consumption remains flat but at a high level in Switzerland during the first months of 2018. There are lots of large on-going renovation projects.
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