{"id":87355,"date":"2024-03-05T08:44:36","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T08:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tin.happy-projects.ro\/slow-sales-and-depressed-prices-the-challenges-for-european-plywood-sector\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T09:01:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T09:01:38","slug":"slow-sales-and-depressed-prices-the-challenges-for-european-plywood-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.timberindustrynews.com\/ro\/slow-sales-and-depressed-prices-the-challenges-for-european-plywood-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow sales and depressed prices the challenges for European plywood sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

European plywood businesses describe their market over the last year as being characterised by slow sales and depressed prices. The predicted lowering of inflation and interest rates through 2024, they say, should help ease pressures. However, on the downside tougher times are predicted in the construction sectors of leading European economies.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, driven in part by terrorist attacks on shipping in the Suez Canal, freight rates, which fell significantly post-Covid, have been on the rise again. So, the jury is out on whether the year ahead will see any marked improvement in the plywood trade.<\/p>\n

One plywood importer\/distributor described 2023 as a \u2018very miserable time\u2019 for the trade. \u201cWe experienced an overall decline in demand in 2023 of about 25% - which was bad for your health as well as the business, it was just very tough,\u201d they said. \u201cAt the same time our prices fell 20-25%.<\/p>\n

It was the opposite to our experience in the pandemic when we saw some of the highest prices ever. In 2023 we saw some of the lowest. Businesses were obviously desperate to turn stock into cash and slashed prices accordingly. So, we were in a situation where interest rates were on the rise and margins were being significantly squeezed. That\u2019s essentially a recipe for disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another importer said that they\u2019d seen demand hold up better from the packaging and furniture sectors, but their sales into construction continued to fall through 2023. \u201cThe building industry is not in a good place currently,\u201d they said. \u201cInflation, high interest rates and a generally weaker European economy, which in October was reported not to have grown in three of the four previous quarters with little sign of a return to growth any time soon, have resulted in home buyers and firms being more reluctant to invest in new premises.\u201d<\/p>\n

This downbeat perspective for building from the trade is borne out by the latest Euroconstruct analysis which estimates that European construction output fell 1.7% in 2023, a marked turnaround from 2022 when it rose 3%. Looking ahead Europe\u2019s construction sector is set to face continuing tough times through 2024 against the backdrop of a continuing sluggish economy.<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s own economic forecast predicts GDP growth of just 0.9% next year, after achieving only 0.5% in 2023, while the UK Office for National Statistics reports that UK growth was just 0.1%, with the Bank of England predicting this will only creep up to 0.25% this year. Given these headwinds, Euroconstruct forecasts that European construction output will contract by 2.1% this year.<\/p>\n

The UK Construction Products Association Winter Forecast predicts growth in UK building in 2024, but by only 0.6%. This follows a contraction of 4.7% in 2023. \u201cBoth private housing and private housing repair, maintenance and improvement are forecast to be the worst affected by the prevailing economic conditions of flatlining growth, stubborn inflation and interest rates remaining [relatively high] throughout 2024,\u201d said the CPA.<\/p>\n

This downbeat perspective is shared by ResearchAndMarkets.com, with its recent report on the sector stating that \u2018European construction continued to underperform the global market in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024\u2019. Looking at lead European economies, it said that the high interest rate environment [falling demand] and soaring construction energy and other costs had resulted in \u2018significant casualties\u2019 among building companies across Europe. \u201cData from the UK government\u2019s Insolvency Service, reveals that in the year to December 2023, 4,378 construction firms became insolvent,\u201d it states. \u201cThis was an increase of 5.1% on the year to December 2022, and a 36.0% increase on 2019 with the trend expected to continue in the short-term.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ResearchAndMarkets.com report said the picture was similar in Germany, with some big-name builders filing for insolvency 2023, including, according to the Financial Times, Gerch, Centrum Group, Development Partner, Euroboden of Munich, and Project Immobilien Gruppe of Nuremberg. \u201cFactors including rising interest rates, expensive construction materials, slowing demand, and a shortage of skilled workers have led to the downfall of these German construction firms,\u201d states ResearchAndMarkets.com.<\/p>\n

According to the Construction Briefing website, the French building industry is also on for a difficult year ahead. \u201cTotal construction spending in France is expected to have contracted 1.5% in 2023,\u201d it reports. \u201cAnd given the lagged effects of interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank, spending is projected to fall by another 0.1% in 2024. Residential has been the main drag on overall sector growth in 2023, with real spending forecast to fall by 2.5%, followed by a further 0.9% in 2024, as the squeeze on households\u2019 budgets from continuing high inflation and interest rates, as well as tighter lending standards, leads to lower housing demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dutch builders are also looking at a difficult 2024, according to the ING Bank. \u201cAfter construction experienced slight growth of 0.5% in 2023, signs of cooling are now evident at the beginning of the construction value chain, with a visible contraction in project development and the production of building materials such as concrete, cement, and bricks,\u201d states ING. \u201cThis trend will continue further down the supply chain. As a result, we expect a contraction of 2.5% in Dutch construction output next year, the largest decline since 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe picture is gloomier still in Italy, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com. It forecasts construction in the country activity down 2.5% in 2023, with decline of 8.6% predicted for 2024 and 2% in 2025. Besides low Italian GDP growth of 0.7% in 2023, with 0.6% expected in 2024, the downturn in construction is also said to be the result of the winding down of government funded support for residential building works. \u201cThe Italian government reaffirmed in early September 2023 that it does not plan to extend the \"Superbonus 110\" tax incentive program for home improvement, due to potential implications on public finances,\u201d reports ResearchAndMarkets.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

European plywood businesses describe their market over the last year as being characterised by slow sales and depressed prices. The predicted lowering of inflation and interest rates through 2024, they say, should help ease pressures. However, on the downside tougher … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4716],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-trends"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSlow sales and depressed prices the challenges for European plywood sector - Timber Industry News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timberindustrynews.com\/ro\/slow-sales-and-depressed-prices-the-challenges-for-european-plywood-sector\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ro_RO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slow sales and depressed prices the challenges for European plywood sector - Timber Industry News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"European plywood businesses describe their market over the last year as being characterised by slow sales and depressed prices. 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