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Elastic flooring is a type of flooring that can deform under pressure and can fully recover to its original shape when the external force is released. This type of flooring is called elastic flooring. This floor has a service life of up to 30-50 years, with excellent wear resistance, stain resistance, and slip resistance.
Its elastic feel makes walking very comfortable. Elastic flooring is highly favored by users due to its superior characteristics, and they are widely used in hospitals, schools, office buildings, shopping malls, transportation, industry, homes, sports centers etc.
I. Industry Development Status
1. Market size
Elastic flooring has gradually been accepted by the Chinese market since 1980s due to its characteristics of super wear resistance, safety and pollution-free, easy cleaning and maintenance, and diverse colors. It has been widely used in various places such as homes, hospitals, schools, office buildings, factories, public places, supermarkets, commercial areas, etc.
In 2023, the usage of elastic flooring in China exceeds 500 million square meters.
With the continuous acceptance of elastic flooring in the Chinese market, its market is also expanding. Data shows that the market size of elastic flooring has grown from 21.964 billion yuan to 33.612 billion yuan from 2019 to 2023.
Year | Market Size (Billion Yuan) |
2019 | 21.964 |
2020 | 25.398 |
2021 | 27.933 |
2022 | 30.244 |
2023 | 33.612 |
2. Supply Size
China's elastic flooring industry started relatively late, and domestic consumers' acceptance of elastic flooring is lower than in developed countries. Domestic production enterprises mainly provide ODM products for foreign flooring brands, traders, and building materials retailers.
After years of operating experience, the experience of major domestic elastic flooring production enterprises in product design and production technology has been continuously improved, and their international competitiveness has been continuously strengthened. They are the main suppliers of the global elastic flooring market.
PVC flooring is the main type of elastic flooring in China. PVC flooring is the most common type of elastic flooring, made of polyvinyl chloride resin and calcium carbonate (PVC), and is cost-effective.
In terms of production, in recent years, the steady growth of the domestic and foreign sales markets has driven the rapid development of China's PVC flooring industry, forming four major industrial bases in Beijing, Zhangjiagang, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. In 2023, China's PVC flooring production reached 1.203 billion square meters.
China's PVC flooring products are still mainly exported. With the increasing demand for PVC flooring in developed countries, China's total export value of PVC flooring has continued to increase. In the context of the continuous transfer of global PVC flooring production enterprises to developing countries, China's status in the international PVC flooring trade has continued to improve, gradually becoming the world's largest PVC flooring exporter.
In 2021, China's PVC flooring export volume reached 572.74 million tons. In 2022 and 2023, affected by the macroeconomic environment, China's PVC flooring has declined, and it fell to 460.01 million tons in 2023.
In terms of export value, according to the data of China Customs, China's PVC flooring export value increased from 33.391 billion yuan in 2019 to 43.02 billion US dollars in 2021. Referring to historical data, the growth rate of China's PVC flooring exports remains at a high level.
3. Demand Size
The domestic penetration rate of elastic flooring is still low. Elastic flooring was introduced into China in the 1980s. Compared with developed countries and regions such as Europe and the United States, China's elastic flooring application market started late.
Affected by traditional concepts, market promotion efforts and home decoration habits, the current popularity of elastic flooring in China is still far behind that of European and American countries.
Taking PVC flooring as an example, at present, PVC flooring in China is mainly used in the field of public facility decoration. PVC flooring production enterprises often only pay attention to large public facility decoration projects and do not pay enough attention to the market such as home decoration.
They lack sufficient targeted promotion and publicity, resulting in consumers lack an objective and rational understanding of PVC flooring. From the perspective of consumption, with the progress of China's elastic flooring industry in brand building and market promotion, many enterprises have begun to pay attention to brand building and market promotion work, and have increased their brand awareness and market share through means such as participating in exhibitions, advertising, and online marketing.
In recent years, the consumption of PVC flooring in China has shown an upward trend. From 2019 to 2023, the consumption has increased from 357 million square meters to 527 million square meters.
Year | Consumption (Million Square Meters) |
2019 | 357 |
2020 | 390 |
2021 | 429 |
2022 | 473 |
2023 | 527 |
In recent years, driven by factors such as urbanization, aging population, and the full implementation of the three-child policy, the demand for the construction of public places in education, elderly care, sports and health fields has continued to increase.
Elastic flooring products have been widely used in the above-mentioned fields due to their convenient construction, environmental protection, waterproof and slip resistance. At the same time, they are gradually expanding to the home decoration market.
In the future, with the stable development of China's real estate, early childhood education, elderly care industries, it will be conducive to the rapid growth of the demand for the elastic flooring market.
II. China's Elastic Flooring Market Analysis
1.Commercial Segment
The commercial segment encompasses a wide range of public building applications, including shopping malls, hotels, hospitals, office buildings, and sports venues. Elastic flooring has gained significant traction in China's commercial and public spaces, with its popularity evident in numerous shopping malls, hospitals, office buildings, schools, and hotels.
However, in stark contrast, elastic flooring has yet to achieve widespread acceptance in the domestic home decoration market, where tiles and wooden floors remain the preferred choices for residential flooring.
Market Size:
In recent years, the demand for elastic flooring in commercial applications has witnessed a steady rise, driving the growth of China's elastic flooring industry. The market size for elastic flooring in the commercial segment reached 182.01 billion yuan in 2023, reflecting its increasing penetration rate.
2. Residential Segment
The residential segment primarily focuses on the application of elastic flooring in homes. In the traditional thinking of Chinese residents, the types of floor decoration materials that can be used for home decoration are mainly ceramic tiles, wooden flooring, or stone flooring.
Domestic residents generally believe that traditional types of flooring such as ceramic tiles, solid wood flooring, and stone flooring are more natural, environmentally friendly, and healthier. These traditional concepts are difficult to change rapidly in a short period of time, and their thinking limits domestic residents from trying other new types of floor decoration materials.
Market Size:
With the continuous improvement of consumers' requirements for quality of life and the upgrading of consumption concepts, in recent years, consumers' awareness of environmental protection and health has become stronger, leading to an increasing demand for environmentally friendly flooring.
Environmental protection, health, safety, simplicity and durability have become important factors that people should consider when choosing flooring.
From the perspective of market size, although the penetration rate of elastic flooring in the civilian field in China is relatively low, with the promotion of the market, China's elastic flooring has maintained a growth trend in recent years.
From 2019 to 2023, the market size has increased from 10.055 billion yuan to 15.411 billion yuan.
III. Competitive Landscape
The current competitive landscape of China's elastic flooring industry can be broadly categorized into three tiers:
Tier 1: Global Brands
Dominating the top tier are established global brands such as Armstrong, Gerflor, Tarkett, Polyflor, and Forbo. These brands, primarily originating from Europe and the United States, have a long history, substantial market presence, and strong brand recognition. Their competitive advantages lie in their brand equity and economies of scale.
Tier 2: Domestic Major Players
The second tier comprises prominent domestic enterprises like Tianzhen, Qinli, Aili Home Furnishing, and Beixin Building Materials. These companies have experienced rapid growth in recent years, establishing a notable presence and market share within China. Additionally, they are actively expanding their international reach.
Tier 3: Domestic SMEs
The third tier consists of numerous small and medium-sized domestic enterprises. These companies generally have a smaller scale and face greater challenges in terms of competitiveness within the industry.
Market Concentration:
The concentration level of China's elastic flooring market is relatively low. This can be due to the industry's market structure is changing but the consumption concept of market consumers has not completely changed.
Ordinary consumers prefer products such as tiles and traditional solid wood flooring. Moreover, domestic elastic flooring companies are focusing on overseas markets. Taking Tianzhen Co., Ltd. and Walrus New Materials as examples, more than 90% of their elastic flooring products are exported abroad, with a relatively low market share in China.
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