The development status of the global floor decoration material industry
Stable development of the global floor decoration material industry
Floor decoration materials are closely related to the lives of residents, and they play an important role in the decoration of public buildings and homes. As an important part of the building decoration industry, the ground decoration material industry is highly related to the real estate and building decoration industry. It is widely used in shopping malls, hotels, office buildings, hospitals, schools, stadiums and other public buildings and residential buildings.
At this stage, with the rapid development of the global economy, the urbanization coverage rate is rapidly increasing. With the rapid expansion of the infrastructure construction field, a large number of ground decoration materials have been used, and the industry as a whole is on an upward trend. With the development of the global economy, the global floor decoration material industry has maintained a stable development trend. In 2017, the market size of the global floor decoration material industry reached 288.28 billion U.S. dollars, and the market size is expected to reach 331.78 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. In the long run, with the gradual recovery of the world economy and the rapid rise of emerging markets, the future development prospects of the world's floor decoration materials industry are broad.
The world's floor decoration material industry continues to shift to developing countries
Around the world, taking into account the advantages of labor costs and other aspects, the production capacity of the floor decoration material industry is constantly shifting to developing countries, and China has undertaken most of the production capacity. In addition, the economic growth of developed countries and regions such as the United States and Europe has been relatively slow, and the rapid economic development of emerging markets represented by countries and regions such as China, India, Southeast Asia, Brazil and other countries and regions has accelerated the industrial transfer of the floor decoration material industry.
As a relatively new type of floor decoration material, PVC floor has the following characteristics compared with traditional wooden floor, natural stone, carpet, ceramic tile, etc.
(1) It has non-toxic and environmentally friendly properties.
Recyclable polyvinyl chloride is used as one of the main raw materials for PVC flooring. It has non-toxic and environmentally friendly properties and has been widely used in food and medical fields that require high environmental protection. Compared with the mainstream solid wood flooring, solid wood composite flooring, laminate flooring, etc. in the domestic flooring market, PVC flooring will not volatilize harmful gases such as formaldehyde after installation; in addition, when the service life of the PVC flooring is replaced, the waste products can be recycled Reuse.
With the people's increasing emphasis on health and the increasingly strengthened concept of sustainable development at this stage, PVC flooring has brought new changes to the floor decoration material industry by virtue of the above advantages, and its market space is expected to continue to expand.
（2) It has excellent characteristics such as fireproof, waterproof, moisture-proof, non-slip, impact resistance, etc.
PVC flooring has high flame retardancy, high melting point, and is not easy to burn. According to the "Classification of Building Materials and Products' Combustion Performance" GB8624-2012, its fire resistance index can reach B1 (flame-resistant materials).
Since the main component of PVC floor is vinyl resin, it has no affinity with water, so it is naturally not afraid of water, as long as it is not soaked for a long time, it will not be damaged, and it will not be mildewed due to high humidity.
The PVC floor can be customized with different patterns according to the needs of customers. The surface of the floor has a concave-convex shape, which increases the friction coefficient when walking on the ground and has a non-slip function. In addition, due to the addition of plasticizers to the midsole layer of some PVC floors, it has better toughness and elasticity, and has a certain elastic recovery ability for impact damage of heavy objects.
(3) It has the function of sound absorption and noise prevention
Quietness is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of living and recuperating environments. PVC flooring can be added with a base layer to achieve a sound-absorbing effect that other floor decoration materials cannot compare. Therefore, in places where quiet environments such as hospital wards, school libraries, lecture halls, theaters, etc. are required, PVC flooring is relatively used.
(4) Have better wear resistance and service life
PVC floor has a transparent wear-resistant layer made by special processing, which provides excellent wear resistance. The wear resistance is more than 300,000 revolutions, which is up to 10 times more than traditional wooden floors. 2 Applications with large flow and high friction have obvious advantages. Good abrasion resistance brings greater market demand for PVC flooring.
General situation of PVC flooring industry
(1) Classification of PVC flooring
PVC sheet flooring can be divided into LVT flooring, WPC flooring and SPC flooring according to its structure. Among them, LVT flooring is currently the most commonly used PVC flooring. In 2018, the sales of LVT flooring accounted for 8% of the sales of all flooring products3; WPC flooring by adding foaming agent to the substrate layer, compared with LVT flooring, has a higher material quality. Lightweight, easy to transport and install, some WPC floors can provide a softer foot feel through the addition of a base layer, and at the same time have a better mute effect; SPC floors are made of heavy calcium powder and PVC resin powder mixed and extruded to form a base The material layer, since the base material layer in the SPC floor contains high-density heavy calcium powder, its dimensional stability is better than that of the WPC floor.
(2) Development of PVC flooring industry
PVC flooring originated in Europe. The United States began industrial production in the 1930s. Up to now, the United States and Europe are still the world's largest consumer markets for PVC flooring. Due to the continuous and rapid growth of import demand for PVC flooring in Europe, the United States and other countries and regions, China's PVC flooring export scale has also continued to grow. China's export of PVC flooring increased from 17.773 billion yuan in 2016 to 30.416 billion yuan in 2018.
From January to July 2019, China's PVC flooring exports still maintained a high growth rate of 19% year-on-year under the background of the significant increase in tariffs imposed by the Sino-US trade friction.
U.S. PVC flooring industry
As one of the main consumers of PVC flooring, the United States introduced PVC flooring in the 1930s and began industrial production. The initial products of the industry were mainly used in commercial buildings. Since then, with the improvement of PVC floor technology, the upgrading of structure, and the increase of types, it has the advantages of environmental protection, recyclability, wear resistance, moisture resistance, non-slip, fire and flame retardant, and has gradually been recognized by consumers.
With its good environmental protection, stability, and abrasion resistance, PVC flooring occupies a certain proportion of the market share in the American floor decoration material market. In 2018, the market share of PVC flooring in the U.S. floor decoration materials increased from 9.80% in 2007 to 21.40%, and it has become the second largest floor decoration material in the United States. It is expected that in the future, as consumers' awareness of environmental protection continues to increase, the substitution effect of PVC flooring on traditional floor decoration materials will gradually appear.
The application field of PVC flooring has gradually extended from commercial buildings to residential areas, and market demand has achieved rapid growth. In recent years, the U.S. PVC flooring market has grown rapidly, with market sales increasing from US$895 million in 2013 to US$3.430 billion in 2018, with a compound growth rate of 30.83%.
In terms of product supply, after years of development, the US PVC flooring market has formed a number of large-scale floor material brands and building materials retailers such as ENGINEERED FLOORS, HOME DEPOT, FLOOR & DECOR, and occupy a leading position in the industry. With the continuous increase of labor costs in the United States, most companies in the United States no longer maintain the entire industry chain model, and put more energy into brand management, and solve the production process through production outsourcing and other methods. In recent years, the import volume of PVC flooring in the United States has increased year by year, reaching US$ 3.266 billion in 2018. With the continuous improvement of suppliers' technical level and R&D capabilities, enterprises in the industry have gradually evolved from only outsourcing production links to centralized procurement of finished products.
European PVC flooring industry
As the region where PVC flooring was popularized earlier in Europe, the market is relatively mature, and consumers generally have a higher awareness of PVC flooring. Among the various floor decoration material products imported by the European Union, PVC flooring accounted for 15.16% in 2011. Thanks to the excellent functions of PVC flooring, the proportion has continued to increase in recent years. In 2018, the proportion of EU floor imports rose to 28.53%, and the share of other floor decoration materials declined to varying degrees, showing obvious substitution. European consumption concepts and consumption habits are similar to those in the United States. The wide application of PVC flooring in the European market will also improve the development of the domestic market PVC flooring industry to a certain extent.
