Global sales of Multilayer Modular Flooring Association members dropped a fifth in 2023.
Solid polymer core continues to grow (3.9%), bringing it to a total market share of 65%.
The ‘wood’ category suffered the most last year with almost 28.7% of a sales decline compared to 2022. When it comes to polymer products, the loss represents -19% of the total sales. Some 9.1milion sqm were sold.
LVT Click is the category that suffered the most with a decrease of 55.7% (14.2million sqm sold). MMFA members sold 5.9million sqm of EPC products which represents a drop of 19.7%. Finally, for the best performing category, the sales volume of SPC products increased by 3.9% over the past year, to a total of 53.7 million sqm.
Despite the overall decline of polymer product sales, the biggest markets remain the same compared to 2022. Western Europe continues to come out on top in terms of volume, with 43.6 million sqm sold, a decrease of 12% compared to 2022. The SPC category is the most successful in Europe, representing 34million sqm of sales in 2023, followed by LVT click (11.8million sqm), and EPC (4.6 million sqm).
This is once again followed by the US with 18.7million sqm, which represents a decline of 38.4% compared to 2022. In terms of growth, Asia experienced substantial (52.5%) growth (2.3million sqm) in 2023, with Latin America trailing behind (10.9%). France (12.5million sqm) narrowly beat Germany (11.5million sqm) as the countries where MMF sales are most successful, reversing last year’s top two.
In Europe itself, there is a visible split, with Eastern Europe seeing an increase of +26.2%, led by skyrocketing sales in Poland (2.5million sqm) and Czech Republic (1.4million sqm), nearly the double of 2022.
When it comes to sales of LVT Click, France continues to be MMFA members’ biggest market for flexible LVT click products in Western Europe, with 4.5 million sqm sold despite a decrease of 24.6% in sales volumes. It is followed by Germany with 2.2million sqm (-55.4%), and the UK (1.1million sqm: -54.5%).
‘While the overall sales figures mirror 2019 levels, the variances between each quarter of 2023 show that recovery and progress are not necessarily linear. Ongoing global disruptions like the war in Ukraine, Middle East and tensions in the Red Sea – as well as associated costs of logistics and raw materials – continue to ripple through various industries, and MMF sector is not an exception. While it might be difficult to predict the future of MMFA members’ sales figures in the coming year, the upward curve observed across geographies and categories in the last quarter of the year gives space for expectation that the market will stabilise soon’ says the MMFA.
