Global upswing on the laminate flooring market EPLF member firms achieved sales of 487 million m²

The economic crisis has been surmounted and there is a global upswing in the laminate flooring business. The year went so well that EPLF European Producers of Laminate Flooring, was able to record 2010 as the second best year in its history. Better results were only achieved in 2007, the year before the crisis.

In 2010, the 21 ordinary EPLF member companies – producers of laminate floors – sold more than 487 million m² of European produced laminate flooring (443 million m² in the previous year). This accounts for an increase of global market sales by 9,9% in 2010. 

The Western European core markets of the European laminate flooring industry remained stable during the crisis. They were even able to record a slight increase: Sales rose from 285 million m² in 2009, to 302 million m² in 2010, which represents an increase of 6%. 

In 2010, Germany experienced a slight deficit. However, it remains the largest European single market with 83 million m² (85 million m² in the previous year) and is at the helm of the Western European markets in terms of ranking. Turkey, which is included in EPLF statistics for Western Europe, now comes in second with 52 million m² (36 million m² in the previous year). On the one hand, this result can be attributed to the Turkish EPLF member companies, on the other hand, however, to the high economic growth in the country located on the Bosporus. With 41 million m² (39 million m² in the previous year), France was able to record a slight increase and is now claiming a good third place. With
29 million m² (33 million m² in the previous year), Great Britain drops to fourth place, while the Netherlands are maintaining a stable 5th place, with 21 million (21 million m² in the previous year). 

Also rather positive, is the development in Eastern Europe. In 2010,
the producers of laminate flooring were able to record sales of 109 million m² (97 Mio. m²  in the previous year) in Eastern Europe, which represents  an increase of 12,4% in comparison to the previous year. This is a good result, especially considering that the decrease in the annual comparison of 2008/2009 represented 25%. With 29 million m² (29 million m² in the previous year), Poland remained stabil and stands at the helm of the Eastern European sales ranking. With 25 million m² (17million m² in the previous year), Russia is the second largest market in Eastern Europe and is increasing rapidly. Rumania comes in third and remains stable with 12 million m² (12 million m² in the previous year). The Ukraine and Hungary come in fourth and fifth.

North America and Asia are sales markets that are mainly served by regional suppliers – and also by EPLF member firms with local production sites. In 2010, sales in North America accounted for
41 million m², which represents an increase in comparison to the previous year (36 Mio. m²).  The U.S. market accounts for the largest share, which, with 24 million m², offered a slightly higher potential for European producers in 2010 (20 million m² in the previous year). With 17 million m² (16 million m² in the previous year), the Canadian market continued to develop positively in 2010. In Asia, total sales of the European producers represented roughly 10 million m² and thus showed a slight increase. This result can be mainly attributed to markets such as Israel and Iran. However, the Chinese market is slightly increasing again as well- mainly due to exports from European producers in the premium segment. 

With 16 million m² (11 million m² in the previous year), South America comes in at the lower end of the statistics. It is quite interesting that sales are mainly distributed between two countries: Chile and Mexico. In Africa, the South African market and Egypt can be pointed out as interesting markets. With three million m², their sales quantities are slightly higher than those of Australia and New Zealand combined. 

Annex: Statistics 2010