Special
Who produces industrial parquet ?
STATEMENT FOR DESIGN LOVERS DURABLE, STURDY, AND A UNIQUE LOOK MAKE VERY STRONG ASSETS Arthur Hoetelmans (INPA Parket - NL) ‘Clear growth in turnover of our exotic wood sorts for industrial parquet’ INPA Parket specialises in Latin American wood. The company is based near the Belgian border in Bergen-op-Zoom in the Netherlands and is a concept in the world of parquet. Led by Arthur Hoetelmans and Ella Roosenboom, this Dutch enterprise gathers its wood from its own forests in Bolivia and Paraguay and also processes it there. Over the last two years in particular, INPA has witnessed a considerable increase in its turnover of industrial parquet. Arthur Hoetelmans explains: ‘Industrial parquet is important to us. That’s why we only sell wood from our own forests in Bolivia, and that wood is also processed in our own factory there. We’re seeing clear growth in demand for industrial parquet. The processing of our Latin American exotics, which are 100% FSC approved, might be labour intensive and the transport is quite expensive due to the distance, but nevertheless we’ve seen a growing demand, partly because more and more manufacturers in Europe are stopping with oak. If I have to put it in absolute figures, you can say that there’s been an increase in turnover of 30 to 35% as compared to 2019.’ Mainly in the commercial sphere ‘What’s noticeable is that it’s still a floor mainly in demand in the commercial sphere, where demand starts from around 200 metres. This high demand with projects is largely because it’s a solid floor with a lifespan longer than a human life. Obviously, as retailers, we don’t always know exactly where our products end up, but we do know that some of them have been used for attractive projects. They include, for instance, the floor for the passport control at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam or various projects in Switzerland for a fitness centre chain. We’ve also had lots of sales in Morocco where they dare to dismantle floors to turn them into herringbone floors.’ When we ask about the long-term future of this so called industrial parquet, Mr Hoetelmans answers cautiously: ‘It’s hard to predict, certainly now that the covid pandemic has stopped so many projects. I wouldn’t dare to say too much about it, but we have seen exotics emerge from the inactivity and there is a growing demand for them. Moreover, one benefit for us is that we record less exorbitant price increases for transport as compared to China and the rest of Asia in general. Whilst prices there have risen sevenfold, our prices have not quite doubled, and this means that Latin American exotics are doing better on the market. Another benefit of INPA is also that we consistently maintain a large stock, with about 25,000m² of industrial parquet in stock.’ The further south, the greater the demand When we ask which markets apart from the Benelux are the main consumers, Mr Hoetelmans gives us a clear answer: ‘The further south you go, the greater the demand. We’re seeing clearly rising demand in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Switzerland. If you ask me, one reason for that is the fact that all those countries had colonies in Africa and Latin America, so they’re familiar with exotic wood sorts. At all events, there’s a big difference with Northern Europe where oak is clearly king. This might change in the future perhaps, but more people in the northern countries would have to realise that how stable this industrial parquet is and how much longer the wood’s lifespan is. Structurally and economically, it’s simply one of the best and most solid wooden floors you can get. It’s just that the cost of fitting and processing is higher than with normal parquet or wooden floors.'
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Floor Forum International 120
