Oknoplast Is Looking For Markets Outside The Old Continent

Due to an inflow of cheap products from Romania, China or Bulgaria, window manufacturers have to search for counterparties in other markets. Oknoplast, which has established its position in the European market, is looking for possibilities for development in the Middle Eastern and American markets.

As the president of Oknoplast group Mikołaj Placek claims, they targeted European markets first due to logistical proximity, yet the current saturation is so high the company is launching another stage of development in the markets outside Europe.

Poland closes the top five in terms of wood joinery manufacturing. In 2015, door and window exports from Poland exceeded the level generated by Germany, which resulted in Poland taking the top spot among exporters of the products. The value of the exports was then 1.55 billion EUR.

Placek explains that because of geographic proximity, the EU markets (e.g. Italy, Spain, France, UK) remain the most promising due to the easier export process, yet the company is starting to test the American market. He also adds that Oknoplast sells its products in the Middle East and also started doing well in the Australian market.

Poland’s main trade partner in the first quarter of this year was Germany, with export participation at 27.5 percent and 22.7 percent in terms of import, while the turnover balance was 10.7 billion PLN. The percentage share of other trade partners is much lower, with 6.5 percent for the United Kingdom, 6.4 percent for the Czech Republic and 5.7 percent for France.

The president of Oknoplast notes that although the key aspect of competitive advantage in their case was low price, the appearance of Chinese or Romanian companies on the market made the company to put their focus on innovation instead of low prices.