International hardwood specialist Danzer reported a 3.6% drop in sales for 2018: at Euro 202 million, sales for the past year were down on 2017 by Euro 8 million.
“This drop in sales was predominantly down to three factors: technical challenges at the Danzer France flooring plant, the trade dispute between the USA and China, and unfavorable ordering activity in the automotive sector – which we supply,” explained Danzer Holding AG CEO Hans-Joachim Danzer. He continued: “We experienced a short-term drop in orders for wood interiors for the automotive industry as old models phased out towards the middle of the year, prior to new models coming onto the market at the end of the year. In France, new production of wear layers did not run as planned due to a combination of technical difficulties in the ramp-up phase, issues with raw material quality and weaker demand. In the USA, our lumber business felt the impact of the trade dispute with China, which led to a sharp drop in both demand and prices in the second half of the year.”
However, production of sliced wear layers for wood flooring in the USA was a bright spot for Danzer.
“We recorded growth in this segment and achieved full capacity utilization at our production facilities for the first time,” Danzer added.
In 2018, 51% of the primarily hardwood products sold by Danzer were sliced wood, 37% were sawn and the remaining 12% was accounted for by logs, custom solutions and services. Danzer sold logs, sawn and sliced hardwood products in 79 countries last year. The top ten markets, which together accounted for 78% of all sales, ranked as follows: USA, UK, China, Canada, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Poland, India and Slovakia.
“The sales figures in Germany fell most sharply due to the decline in demand for wear layers for wood flooring. Sales in the other countries all performed well, with the United Kingdom, India, Russia, Romania and Croatia accounting for the greatest gains in absolute terms,” Hans-Joachim Danzer revealed.
Danzer is a leading quality hardwood company with production facilities in North America and Europe.
