The market for suspended ceilings in the top 7 regions of Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, France, Russia) experienced an abrupt fall of 10.0% this year due to the COVID 19 crisis. Interconnection’s forecast shows that market volume will not return to pre-crisis levels until 2022.

Southern Europe hit the hardest

The forecast numbers for this year are like an omen for the industry. As expected, the southern European countries are being hit the hardest by the crisis not only in terms of health but also economically. The Italian and Spanish markets for suspended ceilings plummeted by 12.0% and 12.8%, respectively. In the UK, the expected decrease amounts to 10.9% and in Russia the same figure is posited to be higher than 11.1%. In Russia, recovery will take a little longer than in the Western European countries, and therefore the market level there is expected to achieve pre-crisis levels in 2022 only.

In Rome, do as Romans do

Office buildings were the strongest area of ​​application in 2019 with a 26.5% market share, ahead of commercial applications, standing at 20%. “The COVID crisis could also lead to shifts there. For instance, owing to smart working, companies will need less office space per employee,” stated Vito Graziano, author of the report. However, there are also country-specific differences in the areas of ​​application. The share of the industry segment in Germany amounts to 23.1%, while it stays consistently below 10% in all other markets examined. In France, the healthcare sector records a disproportionately high share of 18.2%. In terms of materials, the cheap plasterboard gets the lion’s share with over a third of the total market, followed by mineral fibers and metal. An emerging material is veneer wood, which will continue to experience strong growth in the years to come in spite of the crisis. Plank ceilings represent the largest product segment with a share of 35.0%.

Strong market concentration

The market concentration varies greatly between countries. While the markets in Germany and the Netherlands are very concentrated, the markets in Italy and Spain are rather fragmented. Nevertheless, the European market for suspended ceilings is dominated by a few corporate conglomerates from Germany, France and the Benelux countries. The market share of the top 5 companies in Europe amounts to 48.6%.