Stone Flooring Market

Stone flooring is a type of flooring made from natural solid rock. These rocks are cut into slabs and sent to processing plants to get them shaped and polished. Limestone, granite, marble, and slate are common forms of stone flooring. These stone floors are usually used to create landmark buildings such renowned cathedrals, churches, and tombs across the globe. The stones are generally obtained from open pit mining.

Stone flooring is available in a variety of designs and colors. Increasing construction, renovation, and retrofitting activities for buildings and infrastructure is expected to fuel the demand for stone flooring during the forecast period. Stone and marble is considered as luxury materials for floors and are used in various buildings and monuments to make them more attractive. It enhances the interiors in which they are installed. Changing lifestyle and rising disposable income of people have given rise to increasing investment in interior decoration of homes. Increasing number of commercial buildings, hotels, theaters, hotels, and churches etc. is leading to increasing demand for stone floors. Demand for stone floors is growing in the construction industry as it is available in various colors and sizes and can be used as a decorative tool for both commercial and residential purposes. Desire to buy aesthetically appealing products is also projected to fuel the growth of the stone flooring market in the next few years.

Raw materials that are used for manufacturing stone processing machines such as shaping and cutting machine CNC machines are different of variants of steel and cast iron. These materials and machines have unstable prices that affect manufacturers and end-users. Higher cost of these stones is likely to hamper the growth of the stone flooring market during the forecast period. In addition, the maintenance cost of these tiles is also very high. Availability of substitutes such as wooden tiles is restricting the growth of the stone flooring market. High price of raw materials adds additional cost to the stone floor, hampering the growth of the stone flooring market. These stones are found only in selected regions of the world. Furthermore, climate of some regions does not recommend the use of stone flooring.  For example, in North America and Europe people prefer wooden floors in order to keep their houses warm.

The stone flooring market can be segmented on the basis of product type, application, and geography. On the basis of product type, the stone flooring market is segmented into limestone, granite, and slate. Marble is anticipated to lead the stone flooring market as marble is also used in construction of statues, temples, churches etc. In terms of application, the stone flooring market is categorized into commercial and residential. Residential segment is projected to lead the market due to increasing demand for home renovation and increasing number of buildings for residential purposes.

In terms of geography, the stone flooring market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East & Africa, and South America. Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the stone flooring market due to rising real estate industry and developing infrastructure activities. In the last few decades, the region witnessed rising demand for residential and non-residential buildings due to growing urbanization and industrialization.

Major players in the stone flooring market are Mannington Mills Inc, Shaw Floors, Gerflor DLW GmbH, Tarkett S.A., Beaulieu International, Mohawk Industries, Armstrong Flooring, The Dixie Group, Boral Limited and Congoleum Corporation etc. The players adopt new product development as their key development strategy to remain competitive in the market. They offer their products in various structures and colors. For example, Gerflor innovated a technology called ‘In-registered embossing,’ to make the flooring more customized.