The Board of Directors of the European Federation of the Parquet industry (FEP) met October 21, 2021, during the 45th FEP Parquet Congress held in Athens, and discussed several issues including the parquet situation in the European markets.
Consumption of parquet has increased in all European markets during the first Semester of 2021 when compared to the same period in 2020. Renovation and adaptation of homes is still a driver of the parquet consumption growth. The market is expected to progress further until the end of the year, but at a slower pace as consumers are restarting to spend in activities and areas that were limited during the pandemic.
Availability and affordability of raw materials remains critical and the situation is not forecast to stabilize before spring 2022. Logistics and freights are also an issue while shortages of skilled labor forces for manufacturing and installing parquet are increasingly reported by operators.
A brief per country recap is provided in the table below.
Market overview
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Austria |
Consumption of parquet rose by 10 percent in the Austrian market during the first half of 2021. The market is now slowing a bit, but is still and should be positive for the rest of the year. Raw material (oak, spruce) availability is an important issue. |
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Croatia |
The Croatian parquet market is improving compared to 2020. Investments are restarting and demand for new buildings is increasing. |
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France |
Compared to the first semester 2020, characterized by two months of lockdown, French consumption shows a double-digit growth for the first semester 2021. If compared to the same period in 2019, it shows an increase of 5 percent. DIY is still one of the drivers of the demand while sourcing of raw materials is and will probably remain an issue until spring 2022. |
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Germany |
German consumption of parquet rose by 8-10 percent during the first half of 2021 compared to last year. The market is now flattening when compared to the third quarter 2020, which showed already positive developments. Availability of raw materials remains an issue. |
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Italy |
The Italian market for parquet grew by 6-7 percent during the first semester 2021 supported by renovation, new buildings remaining subdued. Wood availability is critical. |
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Nordic cluster |
Scandinavia in general is showing the same trends as Sweden, with a still good demand, supposed to remain high in the coming months, but there are problems of supplies. |
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Spain |
The Spanish market for parquet is stable with low import-export flows and shortages of raw materials and labor. |