The ongoing slow start to the year is borne out by continues declines in carpet and vinyl imports into the UK.
The value of floorcoverings were down for the fourth straight month in the latest data for February and 6.8 percent on a year-on-year basis to £119m, according to HMRC figures compiled by The Furnishing Report.
Carpets were down 8.8% with especially weak data from the Netherlands at -25% and Belgium at -9.5% but Turkey continues to assert its importance in the sector with sales into the UK up 29%.
Vinyl fared little better with a drop of 8.3% ,marking the seventh month in a row of declining imports.
Parquet and wood strip flooring was up for the first time in four months with a 5.5% increase.