2023 sales figures: MMFA sales are affected by the decline in the construction sector but SPC products on an upward curve
Brussels, 28 February 2024 – The global sales figures of MMFA members are not immune to the overall decline of the construction sector and show a decrease of -20% across all categories in 2023 compared to 2022. Exceptionally, SPC continues to grow (by 3.9%), bringing it to a total market share of 65% vs other MMF categories. Category “wood” suffered the most last year with almost -28,7% sales decline compared to 2022. When it comes to polymer products, the loss represents -19% of the total sales. Despite a downward trend following from last year, though quarters vary, with an uptick towards the end of the for many regions.
Market share switch-up
Overall, in the wood category, the decline was widespread, with sales down -28,7% across the globe and 9.1 million m² sold. Similarly, sales of polymer products fell by -19% with 73.8 million m² sold in 2023. SPC products see their market share increasing over the years, to the detriment of LVT products and, to a lesser extent, wood. The market share of EPC remains stable.
LVT click is the category that suffered the most with a decrease of -55,7% (14.2 million m² sold). MMFA members sold 5.9 million m² 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 m² sold.
Consistency across regions
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 m² sold, a decrease of -12% compared to 2022. The SPC category is the most successful in Europe, representing 34 million m² sales in 2023, followed by LVT click (11.8 million m² sold), and EPC (4.6 million m² sold).
This is once again followed by the US with 18.7 million m², which represents a decline of -38.4% compared to 2022 sales figures. In terms of growth, Asia experienced substantial +52,5% growth (2.3 million m²) in 2023, with Latin America trailing behind (+10.9%). France (12.5 million m2 sold) narrowly beats Germany (11.5 million m2 sold) as the countries where MMF sales are most successful, reversing last year’s top two.
In Europe itself, there is a visible split along the bow water, with Eastern Europe seeing an increase of +26,2%, led by skyrocketing sales in Poland (2.5 million m2) and Czech Republic (1.4 million m2, nearly the double of 2022).
Despite the wood category faring well in North America (135.190 m², +18.26%), the biggest losses were registered across Europe (-28,8% in the West and -34.3% in the East).
Changes among market champions
For all polymer products, the US remained MMFA’s members’ biggest market globally in 2023 with 18.7 million m² sold, though it registered a decrease of -38.4% compared to 2022. While some countries like Austria (+8,3%), Denmark (+21,8), Italy (+26,2%) and Poland (+34,5%) show a solid growth, other larger markets including Germany (-24%) and France (-4,8%) are on a downward trend. It is worth noting that with a 25% increase, Norway is slowing approaching the 1 million m² mark.
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 m² sold despite a decrease of 24.6% in sales volume. It is followed by Germany with 2.2 million m² (-55.4%), and Great Britain (1.1 million m²; -54.5%). In North America, the US still stands as the biggest market despite taking a big hit, selling 1.5 million m² (-85.7%) of LVT click products in 2023. While the decline of LVT’s market share happened in favour of SPC products, their stable sales growth could not compensate for the decline of the flexible click market.
For wood products, Germany and Austria account for about 78% of the total sales, but there was a decrease of sales in Germany (-28,25%) and Austria (-27,44%). Aside from the two biggest markets for MMFA, Switzerland (359.164 m²; -15,82%) replaced Denmark (266.927 m²; -38,5%) in the third spot compared to 2022. In Eastern Europe, Czech Republic remained the biggest market, with 269.910 m² sold (-34,72%).
Looking ahead
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.
-/-
About MMFA: The Multilayer Modular Flooring Association is an organisation representing the leading producers of flooring in Europe and their suppliers. The association was established in October 2012 in Munich, Germany, by seven European flooring producers. It is now managed out of Brussels.
