PVC flooring products started early in developed countries and regions such as Europe and the United States. As early as the 1930s, the United States had begun industrial production of PVC flooring. Due to its excellent features such as easy installation, low price, environmental protection and durability, PVC flooring products have been highly recognized by the market after nearly a century of development in Europe and the United States and other countries and regions. The annual demand is in a state of steady growth and is currently the The world’s largest PVC floor consumer market.

However, the local production capacity of PVC flooring is very limited and relies heavily on imports from developing countries. China has now become the world’s largest producer and exporter of PVC flooring, mainly providing OEM and ODM flooring products to large overseas flooring brands and building materials retailers. With the continuous improvement of the macroeconomic level and the changing consumption concepts of residents, the share of PVC flooring in the domestic flooring market has a growing trend.

Development status of foreign PVC flooring industry

The share of PVC flooring in the North American flooring consumer market is second only to carpets. It has won the favor of consumers in North America for its advantages such as low price, convenient installation, durability, waterproof and moisture-proof, and fire and flame retardancy.

North America is currently the world’s largest PVC floor consumption region. According to relevant report data from Tarkett Group in 2020, the total sales volume of PVC flooring in North America in 2019 was 575 million square meters, accounting for approximately 38.10% of the global PVC floor market size.

The sales of PVC flooring in the North American market have been increasing year by year, and the growth momentum has been more obvious in the past two years. Taking the U.S. market as an example, according to relevant data from Catalina Research, in 2020, the sales amount of PVC sheet flooring in the United States increased by 23.30% compared with 2019, and the sales area increased by 34.10% compared with 2019, while other flooring products during the same period increased by 23.30% compared with 2019. The sales amount and area have remained stable or even declined.

Europe is the first region to promote the use of PVC flooring, and various types of PVC flooring have gained wide recognition in the market. According to relevant report data from Tarkett Group in 2020, the total sales volume of PVC flooring in Europe in 2019 was 502 million square meters, accounting for approximately 33.27% of the total global PVC flooring market that year. The total sales volume is relatively close to that in North America. However, due to the large number of European countries, the differences in flooring preferences between countries are more obvious than in North America.

According to relevant statistics from Catalina Research, the import value of PVC flooring in the U.S. market increased from US$2.063 billion in 2016 to US$4.819 billion in 2020, and the proportion of PVC flooring in the total import value of floor decoration materials also increased from 22% in 2016. 41% by 2020. The demand for PVC flooring in the U.S. market continues to expand, which will also stimulate my country’s PVC flooring manufacturers to further expand product production capacity and enhance research and development capabilities, and promote the development of my country’s PVC flooring industry.

The high-quality PVC floors currently on the market do not contain toxic gases such as formaldehyde and benzene, and are not radioactive. They are a new type of green and environmentally friendly floor decoration materials that will not cause any harm to human health. Affected by internal and external factors such as residents’ own concepts and poor promotion of new products, domestic residents lack a rational and objective understanding of PVC flooring, which to a certain extent has led to the relatively small proportion of PVC flooring in my country’s huge floor decoration materials market.