eu market survey 2003 - crecer

Origin of imports
The EU cutlery market is polarizing between high-end products deriving from EU-countries and
cheap imports deriving from China. In 2001, China accounted for 55 percent of EU imports in
terms of volume but just 37 percent on a value basis. In the reviewed period between 1997 and
2001, the importance of the EU countries as suppliers of cutlery dropped. In that period, the
import of cutlery deriving from EU countries increased by 21 percent whereas the import deriving
from non-EU-countries increased from 55,100 tons to 86,800 tons, a growth of 58 percent.
In 2001, the EU-countries only accounted for 32 percent of the EU import of cutlery. Germany is
by far the most important supplier, with a 10 percent share of the total EU import on value basis
and only 6 percent on volume basis, followed by Italy (5% of the EU import in terms of value),
France (4%) and the Netherlands (4%). As it seems, not only the EU-countries felt the
competition from China, as other Asian countries markets, South Korea (7%), Thailand (3%),
Japan (2%) and Taiwan (2%) were also influenced by Chinese imports.
Woodware
The woodware import market is by far the smallest of all the table- & kitchenware segments in
this survey, representing 2 percent of total EU table- & kitchenware imports. In 2001, the EU
import of woodware grew by 3 percent to a value of € 183 million. On a volume basis, the import
only showed a small growth of 1 percent, to 60,200 tons. The United Kingdom accounted for 28
percent of the EU imports of woodware, making it almost twice as big as the second import
market, Germany. Imports to the United Kingdom also showed a positive growth of 12 percent, to
a value of € 52.6 million. The German import dropped by 8 percent, but in the years preceding
2001, the import grew on average more than 4 percent annually. In the period between 1997 and
2001, Italy also showed a healthy growth, as the imported volume grew 53 percent.
Of the six countries highlighted, only the British import grew in terms of volume (19%). The
import of other countries dropped between the 3 percent for Spain and even 27 percent for the
Netherlands.
Figure 5.15 Relative attractiveness of EU-countries with respect to the import development of
woodware
45%
Ireland
% growth 2001 in €
35%
Greece
Austria
25%
15% United Kingdom
5%
Belgium/ Luxembourg
France
Italy
Spain
-15% -5% 5% 25%
Denmark
Netherlands Sweden 45% 65% 85% 105%
-15%
Germany
Portugal
Finland
-25%
% growth 1997 - 2001 in volume
Source: Eurostat, 2002
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