“The crisis in the construction industry, coupled with other factors, is causing problems for the parquet industry. Nevertheless, we are counting on the situation to improve, for example through growing consumer confidence as a result of a pickup in demand and expected cuts in interest rates,” Michael Schmid, Chairman of the Association of the German Parquet Industry (vdp), Bad Honnef/DE, explains.
According to an internal survey carried out by the association, vdp member companies saw the value of their parquet sales in Germany fall by 36% year on year to €183.8 million in 2023. In terms of volumes, members recorded a 37% decrease across all segments to 4.9 million m² of parquet, compared to a total market volume of around 10.8 million m² in Germany.
A downward trend could be observed in almost all segments. The sales value of vdp members who sell multi-layer parquet in Germany, for example, fell by 39% to €153.3 million, while the sales volume was down by 40% and totaled only 4 million m². As for two-layer parquet, the vdp members recorded a turnover of €55.4 million, which corresponds to a decrease of around one fifth compared to 2022. Sales volumes in this segment amounted to 1.5 million m² and were thus down by 25%. Solid parquet sales fell by 26% in terms of value to €13.9 million and by 34% in terms of volume to 300,000 m². In the mosaic parquet segment, member companies were able to slightly increase their sales in terms of value (+7% to €16.6 million). In terms of volumes, on the other hand, they recorded a year-on-year decrease (-6% to 700,000 m²).
