EUROPE - According to consolidated data of 2018 published by EPLF (European Producer of Laminate Flooring), Latin America and Asia were the markets that presented the best performance for European laminate flooring manufacturers.

In the total, the global market of laminate floors generated a volume of sales for European manufacturers of 455 million m², which implies a 4.6% drop compared to the volume of 477 million m² reached in 2017.

The Latin American region in 2018 achieved again an increases in sales volume of European laminate floors, with 18.5 million m² (previous year 17.7 million m²), a growth of 4.7%. The sales figures in Chile, the largest market, increased by 5% compared to the previous year reaching 8.1 million m² (previous year 7.7 million m²). Mexico registered 3.9 million m² (previous year 4.3 million m²), Colombia registered 2.1 million m² (previous year 1.6 million m²) and the dificult economic situation in Argentina set volume at 1.5 million m² (previous year 2.1 million of m²).

In the Asian region, EPLF manufacturers achieved total sales of approx. 30 million m² in 2018 (previous year 29 million m²), reaching 2.8% more than last year. China (including Hong Kong) with 8.9 million m² was again the main Asian market in 2018, although with a decrease of approx. 7.2% compared to the previous year (2017: 9.6 million m²).

In Western Europe (including Turkey), total sales for 2018 reached 225 million m² (the previous year 243 million m²). This means a decrease of 7.3% with respect to 2017. The most important market in Europe is still Germany with 52 million m² (previous year 57 million m²), a -8.3% reduction caused by the continuing trend towards substitution with alternative flooring types.

The second place in Europe is again for France, which in 2018 reached 36 million m² (the previous year 37.6 million m²), dropping slightly. Great Britain ranked third among European markets with 29.8 million m² (previous year 33.8 million m²) a decrease of 11.8%.

North America continues to be an important sales region for European laminate floors, although the result is somewhat attenuated by Canada's weaker figures. In 2018 a total of 44.3 million m² (previous year 49 million m²) were sold in North America, 10.4% less than the previous year. USA registered a slight setback in 2018 with approx. 30.7 million m² (previous year 32 million m²) -2.4%. In 2018 Canada registered only 13.6 million m² (previous year 18 million m²), which represents a drop of 24.5%.