EU wood flooring export trend swings negative

Source:
ITTO/Fordaq
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EU exports of wood flooring were rising in the five years between 2009 and 2014, as manufacturers diversified into new markets during a period of slow demand in Europe.

Exports increased by 4.7% to 17.707 million sq.m in 2013 and by another 2.7% to 18.179 million sq.m in 2014.

However, the positive export trend has slowed since the last quarter of 2014. In the first quarter of 2015, EU wood flooring exports were 4.174 million sq.m, 4.7% lower than in the same period the previous year.

The decline in EU wood flooring exports in the first quarter was primarily due to significantly lower deliveries to Switzerland (-12.4%) and Norway (-11.4%), the two largest European markets outside the EU.

This is surprising in the case of Switzerland. The Swiss franc has gained considerably in value against the euro since the end of last year when the Swiss currency was untied from the euro exchange rate. Wood flooring produced in the EU has therefore become much cheaper for Swiss buyers.

EU wood flooring exports to countries outside the EU varied widely in the first quarter of 2015. Exports increased to the USA (+8.8%), Turkey (+27.2%) and China (+2.9%) during this period.

Exports also continued to rise strongly to Canada (+20.6%), Hong Kong (+26.3%), the United Arab Emirates (+85%) and Israel (+26.1%) in the first quarter.

In contrast, the collapse in the value of the Russian rouble led to a 31.7% decline in EU exports of wood flooring to Russia in the first quarter of 2015. The unstable situation in the Ukraine caused exports to this market to fall sharply by 36.7% in 2014 and again by 45.3% in the first three months of this year

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