General State of Interior Fabrics Business

for Fiscal 2003<Market Size Determination>

January 2005

Nippon Interior Fabrics Association, Japan

 

General Remarks
Current state of the Interior Fabrics product Market
Window treatment products 246.5 billion yen
Floor covering products 289.9 billion yen
Wall covering products 112.1 billion yen
In fiscal 2003, the interior fabrics industry confronted the same difficult environment that it encountered in the previous fiscal year, with falling construction starts and sluggish personal consumption impacted by the economic uncertainty. Although, the overall scale of the interior fabrics market (on a wholesale base) grew 5.6% from the previous fiscal year, this is mainly because the market size was estimated by adding five new variations to the old floor covering materials in terms of plastic flooring, while it was affected by the number of new housing starts that rose to some degree for the first time in a long period. In general, the overall market appears to be facing an increasingly entrenched trend towards lower prices.
The size of the markets for interior fabrics products (on a wholesale basis) for fiscal 2003 was estimated at 246.5 billion yen (increasing 0.9% from the previous year) for window treatments, 289.9 billion yen (up 13.1%) for floor coverings, and 112.1 billion yen (declining 1.4%) for wall coverings.

 

Window treatment products
The markets for window treatments for fiscal 2003 was estimated at 150.4 billion yen for curtains (rising 2.3% from the previous year), 30 billion yen (dropping 10.7%) for blinds, 36.9 billion yen (up 6.8%) for screens, and 29.1 billion yen (increasing 0.2%) for curtain rails, giving an overall market of 246.5 billion yen (representing a 0.9% rise from the scale of the previous year).
With respect to curtains, NIF launched its own study in the previous fiscal year to obtain more accurate estimates of market size, enabling a clearer and more realistic understanding of the size. Sales of domestic products surpassed those of the previous year (with a year-on-year increase of 3.6%) after six consecutive years of year-on-year declines. This may be attributable to the raised number of housing starts, rushed purchase of houses to benefit from housing tax cut and raised unit prices that made up for the lower sales quantity. On the other hand, sales of imports slipped in value terms (down 4.1%) although sales quantity increased.
Sales of blinds fell substantially short of the results of the previous fiscal year (with a year-on-year decrease of 10.7%) because of the shift from blinds to fabrics in the housing market and the dramatic fall in prices. The wooden blind market has steadily expanded, although there is concern about the growing share of cheaper products.
In contrast, the overall market for screens continued to grow from the previous year (with a year-on-year increase of 6.3%), its fifth consecutive year of expansion. Sales of roll screens and Roman shades were significantly impacted by the shift in demand from curtains and blinds to screens because of the downsizing of windows. Among them, the market for pleated screens expanded markedly from the previous year (up 19.7%), bolstering the market size partly thanks to the higher number of manufacturers entering the market.
Curtain rail sales were almost on a par (with a year-on-year increase of 0.2%) with those of the previous year in terms of overall value. The freefall in sales seems to have ended, based on changes in the market size over the past several years. Still, it remains necessary to monitor more carefully whether sales will continue to increase.

 

Floor covering products
Although its range is somewhat diverse, across the three key materials of fiber, plastic and wood, as in the past the market size of the floor covering (floor materials) section was calculated in terms of carpets and plastic floorings. These are the two areas in which Nippon Interior Fabrics Association (NIF) members are more closely involved. However, the market size for vinyl floorings was estimated by increasing variations of plastic flooring materials from three (composition tiles, regular vinyl sheets and cushioned flooring) to eight, namely adding five new variations; homogenous tiles, other composition tiles, antislip vinyl flooring sheets, inlaid sheets and other PVC sheets.
The market size for floor coverings during fiscal 2003 was estimated at 215.0 billion yen (a year-on-year decline of 1.8%) for carpets and 74.9 billion yen for plastic floorings, increased to eight variations, giving 289.9 billion yen (up 13.1%) overall.
Sales of domestic carpets continue to fall. Even for imported carpets, sales were down 2.2%. Despite this, the degree of the fall was less than that of the last two years and the market does appear to have bottomed out, although any recovery will be gradual.
For plastic floorings, the market size for composition tiles has recently tended to shrink because of the diversification of flooring products, with a year-on-year decrease of 7.3% for 2003. Sales of cushioned flooring also dropped 4.8% from the previous year since use of the products for housing were limited to certain parts of the house only and the quantity consumed was low per house. On the other hand, sales of vinyl flooring sheets rose 2.8% from the previous year, impacted by competitive prices.

 

Wall covering products
Again this year, the market size for wall coverings was calculated in terms of wallpaper. In addition, "Wallpaper Production Shipment Statistics" prepared by the Wall Covering Association of Japan was used as the reference material for the calculation. For other wallpaper products sold in stores such as do-it-yourself (DIY) outlets, which are not included in the above statistics or wallpaper statistics, the "Volume and Value of Products Sold," produced by the Household Fusuma and Wallpaper Association, was added as the reference material, by abstracting the part pertaining to wallpaper.
The market size for wallpaper products in fiscal 2003 was estimated at 112.1 billion yen, a 1.4% fall from the previous fiscal year.
A regulatory change was made in the previous fiscal year, in which fireproof wall covering materials are to be qualified for each business. This year allowed us to compare figures with those for the previous fiscal year for each section. Although the total quantity of wallpaper shipped within Japan declined for three consecutive years, the quantity shipped increased 2.0% from the previous year, returned to the figure over 700 million m2 again. However, selling prices have continued to decline as competition in the market remained fierce.
Viewed by type (in value terms), vinyl wallpaper (a year-on-year increase of 0.4%), the key product, and plastic wallpaper (olefin wallpaper such as acryl and EVA wallpaper products) (up 11.6%) achieved sales that outstripped the results of the previous fiscal year. This may be attributable to the higher demand relating to apartments. This product is increasingly mass-produced, resulting in a decline in sales in value terms. Sales of paper-based wallpaper have fallen since 2001, dropping markedly in fiscal 2003 (down 25.5%). This would reflect the difficulty in handling construction work. Sales of fiber-based wallpaper have continued to fall, albeit slowly. There was a major decline in sales of inorganic wallpaper and other products.
The key result during this fiscal year would be wallpaper products, which have earned a reputation for reliability in the market and the industry as products with F(4star) that deal with sick house syndrome in the context of amendments to the Building Standard Law.

 

[Reference Material]

Trend in New Housing Starts (By Use)
(Unit: 1,000; figures in parentheses are as percentages of previous yeafs figures)

Total
Lived in by owner
Rental
Employee housing
Condominium
Fiscal 1999

1,226 (103.9)

476 (108.7)

426 (95.9)

12 (75.0)

312 (110.6)
Fiscal 2000

1,213 (98.9)

438 (92.0)

418 (98.1)

11 (91.7)

346 (110.9)
Fiscal 2001

1,173 (96.7)

377 (86.1)

442 (105.8)

9.9 (90.0)

344 (99.3)
Fiscal 2002

1,145 (97.6)

365 (96.8)

454 (102.7)

9.5 (96.0)

316 (91.9)
Fiscal 2003

1,173 (102.4)

373 (102.2)

458 (100.9)

8.1 (85.3)

333 (105.4)

Source: gIntegrated Statistics on Construction Workh Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

[Reference Material]

Trend of Floor Area of New Homes (By Use)

(Unit: 1,000m2, figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yearfs figures)
Total
Lived in by owner
Rental

Employee housing

Condominium

Fiscal 1999

119,562 (107.7)

66,269 (108.8)

22,662 (99.7)

867 (73.7)

29,764 (113.8)

Fiscal 2000

117,523 (98.3)

60,833 (91.8)

22,154 (97.8)

777 (89.6)

33,759 (113.4)

Fiscal 2001

108,800 (92.6)

51,668 (84.9)

22,723 (102.6)

685 (88.1)

33,725 (99.9)

Fiscal 2002

103,438 (95.1)

49,640 (96.1)

22,736 (99.9)

688 (100.4)

30,374 (90.1)

Fiscal 2003

104,945 (101.5)

50,284 (101.3)

22,391 (98.5)

573 (83.3)

31,697 (104.4)

Source: gIntegrated Statistics on Construction Workh Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

 

[Reference Material]

Trends in Floor Area for Each Use

(Unit: 1,000m2, figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yearfs figures)
Total
Residential
Non-residential
Fiscal 1999

197,017 (101.9)

126,909 (106.4)

70,108 (94.6)
Fiscal 2000

194,481 (98.7)

124,665 (98.2)

69,816 (99.6)
Fiscal 2001

178,903 (92.0)

115,928 (93.0)

62,975 (90.2)
Fiscal 2002

171,030 (95.6)

110,139 (95.0)

60,891 (96.7)
Fiscal 2003

176,533 (103.2)

111,786 (101.5)

64,747 (106.3)

Source: gIntegrated Statistics on Construction Workh Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

@ @ @ @ @

[Reference Material]

Trends in Floor Area for Each Use of Non-Residential Buildings

(Unit: 1,000m2, figures in parentheses are as percentages of previous yeafs figures)
Office
Store
Factory
Warehouse
School
Hospital
Others
Fiscal 1999
8,801 (102.4)
14,663 (110.3)
10,352 (90.5)
7,062 (81.7)
4,895 (96.5)
5,030 (100.0)
19,306 (87.7)
Fiscal 2000
8,172 (92.9)
11,974 (81.7)
14,152 (136.7)
7,762 (109.9)
4,515 (92.2)
3,923 (78.0)
19,319 (100.1)

Fiscal 2001
8,321 (101.8)
8,383 (70.0)
10,628 (75.1)
7,240 (93.3)
4,700 (104.1)
3,520 (89.7)
20,183 (104.5)

Fiscal 2002
6,833 (82.1)
10,361 (123.6)
8,812 (82.9)
6,770 (93.5)
4,945 (105.2)
4,443 (126.2)
18,727 (92.8)

Fiscal 2003
7,550 (109.7)
10,637 (102.7)
9,945 (112.9)
7,343 (108.5)
4,602 (93.1)
3,892 (87.6)
20,779 (111.0)

Source: gIntegrated Statistics on Construction Workh Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

 

Window Treatment Products

[Curtains]

The general market size for curtains this fiscal year, 2003, was determined, including verification of NIFÕs independent survey.
The size of the market was estimated at 150.4 billion yen (with a year-on-year increase of 2.3%). To sum up, sales of domestic products exceeded those of the previous year for the first time in a long while (up 3.6%) while value-based sales of imported products fell 4.1%, as lower unit prices offset the increase in quantity (m2).
Sales grew in value terms with the help of such favorable incentives in the market as rushed home purchases because of the housing tax cut, although in actuality sales were down in volume terms, but more than offset by raised unit prices. This trend would be partly attributable to the round of inventory adjustment and the review of low-end products. The increase in imports is attributable to higher direct imports dealt with by downstream companies, including DIY outlets, which do not go through wholesalers or manufacturers. However, value-based sales fell below those of the previous year as average unit prices fell in the face of the overwhelming share of Chinese products.
Looking at a breakdown of domestic products by type, sales of made-to-order curtains successfully surpassed those of the previous fiscal year (with a year-on-year increase of 6.2%) while the market size for ready-made curtains shrank remarkably (down 16.3%). These figures reflect the persistent tendencies of recent years.
Total production of curtains during 2003 was 148,000,000†F, a year-on-year fall of 6.3%. This suggests decreased sales quantities and increased unit prices.
Fiscal 2003 saw a favorable socioeconomic background, including an increase in new housing starts after a long break (about 1,170,000 households, with a year-on-year increase of 2.4%) and more apartments sold. In addition, another favorable factor would be the slowing reduction of average unit prices.
Nevertheless, the curtain market continues to face a challenging environment because of the shift from curtains to screens, as noted in a comment on the market size estimation.

 

<Statistical materials used to determine market sizes>
1) Domestic products
The market size was determined by calculating average units and the ratio of made-to-order curtains to ready-made products, while referring to reports on actual shipment by NIF members, based on the data from the "Curtain Shipment Volume and Value by Product Type."
2) Imported products
The market size was determined based on a survey of the curtain conducted by Sen-i Kenkyu-jyo.
*The sizes of the markets for both domestic and imported products are calculated based on average unit prices of products from NIF members, which makes it impossible to verify differences compared to actual prices in the markets.

 

Table 1. Size of the Curtain Market (wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yearfs figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Total size

1,507 (95.4)

1,473 (97.7)

1,470 ( - )

1,504 (102.3)
  Domestic products

1,392 (94.1)

1,340 (96.3)

1,224 (91.3)

1,268 (103.6)
Imported products

115 (115.0)

132 (114.8)

246 ( - )

236 (95.9)

 

Table 2. Size of the Domestic Curtains (by type and category, wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yearfs figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Total

1,392 (94.1)

1,340 (96.3)

1,224 (91.3)

1,268 (103.6)
  Ready-made products

216 (80.6)

197 (91.2)

141 (71.6)

118 (83.7)
Order-made products

1,176 (97.1)

1,143 (97.2)

1,083 (94.7)

1,150 (106.2)
Yarn-dyed products

752 (93.5)

737 (98.0)

349 ( - )

332 (95.0)
  Ready-made products

105 (76.6)

96 (91.4)

36 ( - )

27 (75.0)
Order-made products

647 (97.0)

641 (99.1)

313 ( - )

305 (97.3)
Cloth-dyed products

315 (96.9)

288 (91.5)

570 ( - )

616 (108.1)
  Ready-made products

49 (84.5)

44 (89.8)

68 ( - )

59 (86.8)
Order-made products

266 (99.5)

244 (91.8)

502 ( - )

557 (111.0)
Lace casement

326 (93.1)

315 (96.6)

304 (96.6)

320 (105.2)
  Ready-made products

62 (84.9)

57 (91.9)

37 (64.9)

32 (86.5)
Order-made products

264 (95.3)

258 (97.7)

267 (103.6)

288 (107.8)

 

[Reference Material]

Curtain Production Volume by Product Category

(Unit: 1,000m2; figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yeafs figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Total

170,616 (95.0)

164,052 (96.2)

157,850 (96.2)

147,936 (93.7)
  Yarn-dyed products

80,775 (97.8)

77,236 (95.6)

37,360 ( - )

32,864 (88.0)
Cloth-dyed products

34,392 (95.0)

32,128 (93.4)

66,730 ( - )

63,232 (94.8)
  Race-casement

55,449 (91.7)

54,688 (98.6)

53,760 (98.3)

51,840 (96.4)

 

[Blinds]

The market size for blinds during fiscal 2003 was estimated at 25.11 billion yen (a year-on-year decrease of 10.6%) for Venetian blinds, 4.9 billion yen (declining 11.1%) for vertical binds, and 30.01 billion yen (down 10.7%) in total.
The blind market in 2003 experienced a transition from blinds to fabrics in housing and a slump in housing starts, leading to severe competition and lower prices.
Although demand has been steadily expanding, the size of the wood-made blind market may shrink as lower unit prices became more dominant. Fashionable horizontal blinds with wood materials and fabrics combined with 50-mm-wide aluminum slats were introduced to the market as the latest addition.

 

<Statistical materials used to determine market sizes>
1) "Report on the Shipment of Interior Fabrics, etc. (2003)," NIF
2) "2003 Statistics on Blinds," Nippon Blind Industry Association

 

Table 3. Market Size of Blinds (wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yearfs figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Blinds total

360.9 (96.4)

341.7 (94.7)

335.9 (98.3)

300.1 (89.3)
  Venetian blinds

297.7 (96.0)

282.5 (94.9)

280.8 (99.4)

251.1 (89.4)
Vertical blinds

63.2 (98.6)

59.2 (93.7)

55.1 (93.1)

49.0 (88.9)
[Screens]

The market for screens was determined to be 24.81 billion yen (a year-on-year increase of 5.7%) for roll screens, 8.7 billion yen (up 3.6% from the previous year) for Roman shades, and 3.47 billion yen (rising 19.7%) for pleated screens. The overall market size was 36.98 billion yen (an increase of 6.3% over the previous year).
Competition is becoming tougher and prices are falling for roll screens, although curtain manufacturers entered the market and there is strong demand. However, the market expanded in scale, thanks to a growing tendency to move away from curtains because more houses employed smaller windows.
Roman shades are now offered by specifying fabrics to cater to diversified needs. As with roll screens, a shift in demand from curtains was recognized because of the employment of smaller windows.
The pleated screen market exhibited growth through the participation of new manufacturers in the market. This expanded input into the market and helped popularize pleated screens for which customers can select different fabrics for an upper part and a lower part, resulting in greater market size.

<Statistical materials used to determine market sizes>
1) "Report on the Shipment of Interior Fabrics, etc. (2003)," NIF
2) "2003 Statistics on Blinds," Nippon Blind Industry Association

Table 4. Market size of Screens and Shades (wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yearfs figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Total

326.5 (102.6)

335.2 (102.7)

347.8 (103.8)

369.8 (106.3)
  Roll screens

227.8 (98.6)

227.7 (100.00)

234.8 (103.1)

248.1 (105.7)
Roman screens

76.2 (112.4)

81.4 (106.8)

84.0 (103.2)

87.0 (103.6)
Pleated screens

22.5 (116.0)

26.1 (116.0)

29.0 (111.1)

34.7 (119.7)
[Curtain rails]
The market size for curtain rails in fiscal 2003 was estimated at 25.64 billion yen (a year-on-year increase of 1.0%) for curtain rails, 2.15 billion yen (down 9.7%) for curtain-related products, and 1.31 billion yen (up 4.0%) for others.
New housing starts (about 1,170,000 households, with a year-on-year increase of 2.4%) remain in a severe situation, although the number is improving slightly from the past downwards trend. Significantly impacted by the new housing starts, the curtain rail market appeared to be almost on a par (up 0.2%) with that of the previous year in terms of overall quantity (on a value basis). The market is recovering from the persistent negative tendency as the overall quantity of the previous year was 29.03 billion yen (91.8% of the previous fiscal yearÕs result) and the market size has changed favorably in recent years. Still, it is necessary to monitor the situation to identify real positive change.
Sales of functional rails grew successfully while decorative rail sales were sluggish. This would reflect a severe market environment in terms of unit price.


<Statistical materials used to determine market sizes>
1) Materials for determining market size from the Japan Curtain Rail Industry Association

 

Table 5. Market size of Curtain Rails (wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yearfs figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Curtain rail total

370.2 (97.5)

316.4 (85.5)

290.3 (91.8)

291.0 (100.2)

Curtain rails

328.8 (94.2)

284.2 (84.6)

253.9 (89.3)

256.4 (101.0)

Functional rails

234.6 (93.2)

208.7 (89.0)

184.1 (88.2)

194.5 (105.6)

Decorative rails

94.2 (96.6)

75.5 (80.1)

69.8 (92.5)

61.9 (88.7)

Related parts

31.8 (125.7)

22.1 (69.5)

23.8 (107.7)

21.5 (90.3)

Others

9.6 (181.1)

10.1 (105.2)

12.6 (124.8)

13.1 (104.0)

 

Floor Covering Products
[Carpeting]

The market size of carpets for fiscal 2003 slipped 1.8% from the previous year, and is estimated at 215 billion yen (the percentage of the previous yearÕs figure: 98.2%), consisting of sales of 116.4 billion yen (with a year-on-year decrease of 1.4%) for domestic products and 98.6 billion yen (down 2.2%) for imported products.
The third consecutive annual decline in the carpet market reflects the lack of a serious recovery in the general economy, like the previous year. However, the degree of the decline has been easing compared with the past two fiscal years, and the economy appears to be nearing its trough.
The overall quantity of imported carpets increased, accounting for 107.1% of the previous yearÕs figure. The value decreased, although still accounted for 97.8% of the previous yearÕs figure. This obviously indicates a strong tendency for price reductions among imports. The vast majority of imports came from China with sales continued to show solid growth, with incoming shipments accounting for 128.2% of the previous yearÕs results in terms of quantity, and 105.1% in value terms. These volumes account for nearly 50% of total imports. In terms of quantity, China was followed by Thailand, India, and Belgium, with these leading four countries accounting for nearly 80% of total imports. In yen terms, the leading exporters included China, Belgium, the United States and India, which together accounted for more than 70% of imports to Japan. Characteristically, the volume of hand-woven carpets and needle-punched carpets fell while the quantity of imported and sold Wilton and tufted carpets corresponded to 105.0% of the previous yearÕs figure.
In the construction market, the number of new housing starts surpassed the previous year after four years of decline (1,170,000 households, rising 2.4% from the previous year). The total floor area of construction starts of all buildings was determined to be 176,530,000m2 (up 3.2%), also registering the first increase in four years. Partly impacted by the increased construction floor area of offices (up 9.7%) among non-residential buildings, the quantity of carpet tiles rose, to 105.9% of the previous yearÕs figure. Sales of roll carpets and piece carpet sets for households continued to fall from the previous year.
The total number of automobiles produced was 10,290,000 (a year-on-year increase of 0.3%), achieving positive growth for the second consecutive year. This contributed to the rise in the overall quantity of carpets for transport use, corresponding to 105.8% of the previous yearÕs figure. In contrast, the value of carpets installed in automobiles decreased. This reflected a dramatic reduction in sales tufted carpets, in favor of more needle-punched carpets, a move taken to reduce costs. Meanwhile, value-based sales showed a slight increase.

<Materials used for formulating market sizes>
1) For average unit prices: Results of a questionnaire-based survey by NIF
2) For domestic products: "Statistics on Changes in Carpet Production and Imports" and "Statistics on Tile Carpet Production" Japan Carpet Manufactures Association
3) For imported products: Trade Statistics, Ministry of Finance Japan
4) Statistics on production, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc.
5) Statistics on New Housing Starts for 2003 (Summary), etc., Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

 

Table 6. Market Size of Carpets (wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are percentages of previous yearfs figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Total

2,427 (103.4)

2,279 (93.9)

2,189 (96.1)

2,150 (98.2)
  Domestic Products

1,422 (99.8)

1,263 (88.8)

1,181 (93.5)

1,164 (98.6)
Imported Products

1,005 (109.0)

1,016 (101.1)

1,008 (99.2)

986 (97.8)

@

Table 7. Market Size of Domestic Carpets (by product category, wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are as percentages of previous year's figures)

Category
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Total

1,422 (99.8)

1,263 (88.8)

1,181 (93.5)

1,164 (98.6)
  Tufted

857 (98.4)

736 (85.9)

660 (89.7)

632 (95.8)
  Regular use

749 (97.7)

642 (85.7)

576 (89.7)

550 (95.5)
Automotive use

108 (103.8)

94 (87.0)

84 (89.4)

82 (97.6)
Tufted tile

311 (105.1)

297 (95.5)

300 (101.0)

311 (103.7)
Woven carpet

66 (101.5)

63 (95.5)

61 (96.8)

58 (95.1)
Plain weave

6 (200.0)

6 (100.0)

6 (100.0)

8 (133.3)
Hooked rug

69 (109.5)

57 (82.6)

51 (89.4)

48 (94.1)
Needle punch

110 (94.0)

97 (88.2)

97 (100.0)

101 (104.1)
  Regular use

42 (68.9)

30 (71.4)

26 (86.7)

25 (96.2)
Automotive use

68 (104.6)

67 (98.5)

71 (106.0)

76 (107.0)
Others

3 (30.0)

7 (233.3)

6 (85.7)

6 (100.0)

 

[Plastic Floor Covering Materials]
Vinyl flooring materials have the largest share of the market for plastic flooring materials. The market size for vinyl floorings had been estimated only for three variations: composition tiles, regular vinyl sheets and cushioned flooring. As market size estimates for these three variations was inadequate given the recent diversification of vinyl flooring materials, the market size for this fiscal year was estimated by adding five new variations: homogenous tiles, other composition tiles, antislip vinyl flooring sheets, inlaid sheets and other PVC sheets.
In this survey, "composition tiles" refer to general-purpose products of a semi-hard type. With its good durability and ease of installation, this is one of the leading flooring materials used as an inexpensive PVC tile in non-residential buildings such as offices and schools. However, the market has recently entered a gradual decline because of the diversification of flooring material products. In fiscal 2003, the market size contracted just 7.3% from the previous fiscal year.
Other composition tiles include those that are soft or antistatic for retail and commercial facilities. More 3-mm-thick-steel-chip tiles have recently been employed because of the prevalence of dry floor maintenance and a recovery in the retail outlet market.
Homogenous tiles are vinyl flooring tiles with a binder component of 30% or more, with the binding being a product such as vinyl resin or elasticizer. Homogenous tiles include products with sophisticated designs, such as printed tiles with a transparent vinyl layer overlaid on a printed layer and inlaid tiles with patterns made by kneading, and functional products with an antistatic quality. These tiles have recently been developed as quick-construction tiles for double flooring in office automation floors.
The "regular vinyl sheet" is called a long PVC sheet. This sheet can be used in a wide range of general-purpose applications without the need to install a foam layer. It is used as a highly durable sheet flooring material in schools, hospitals, welfare institutions and factories. The market size in fiscal 2003 increased 2.8% from the previous year, benefiting from advantageous prices.
Antislip vinyl flooring sheets have concaves and convexes on the surface of the sheet to ensure that they have antislip properties. This material is more frequently employed in public corridors or the stairs of apartments. This product continues to grow because of demand for refurbishment.
Cushioned flooring is flooring with a foam layer, which has a decorative feature enhanced by a printed layer. The product comes in two types, depending on the thickness of the superficial layer (i.e., a transparent PVC layer) and the total thickness, for residential and commercial applications. Residential cushioned flooring is 1.8 or 3.5 mm thick, while commercial cushioned flooring is 2.3 mm thick. The material for commercial use has been increasingly used in apartments in recent years. The type for domestic use is only used in damp areas such as kitchens, washstands and toilets, and only a small quantity is used in each house or apartment. The market size for cushioned flooring in fiscal 2003 contracted from that of the previous year, continuing a downward trend.
Inlaid sheets are made by sprinkling chips or pellets on a base material, pouring transparent sol and fixing it. This product enjoys high durability and highly designed quality. Sales for fiscal 2003 were supported by large-scale demand, mainly in medical care, education and stores.
Other PVC sheets include complex vinyl flooring sheets with a foam layer, products having special functions such as antistatic, anticeptic or anti-active summation properties, and highly designed vinyl-flooring sheets with an accumulated printed layer.
The market size for plastic floor materials in fiscal 2003 was estimated at 74.9 billion yen, with new five variations added.


<Statistical materials used to determine market sizes>
1) Shipment volume: Statistical volume from the Interior Floor Industrial Association

Table 8. Market Size of Plastic Floor Covering Materials (wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are as percentages of previous year's figures)

Category

Fiscal 2000

Fiscal 2001

Fiscal 2002

Fiscal 2003

Total

414 (105.1)

393 (94.9)

374 (95.2)

749 ( - )
  Tiles Composition tiles

54 (98.2)

42 (77.8)

41 (97.6)

38 (92.7)
Other composition tiles
-
-
-

56 ( - )
Homogenous tiles
-
-
-

116 ( - )
Sheets Regular vinyl flooring sheets
113 (109.7)
111 (98.2)
105 (94.6)
108 (102.8)
Antislip vinyl flooring sheets
-
-
-
92 ( - )
Cushioned flooring
247 (104.7)
240 (97.2)
228 (95.0)
217 (95.2)
Inlaid sheets
-
-
-
18 ( - )
Other PVC sheets
-
-
-
104 ( - )

 

@

Wall Covering Products

[Wallpapers]

The market size for wallpaper in fiscal 2003 was calculated at 112.13 billion yen, representing a contraction of 1.4% from the previous year. Among the product categories, regulations for fireproof wall covering materials were amended in fiscal 2002 to change the qualifying system in which each manufacturer is to obtain qualification, while the grades of fireproof performance and the classifications of materials were also modified. This survey was conducted in a similar way as in the previous year. By product category, sales appeared to be 3.45 billion yen for paper-based wallpaper, 2.78 billion yen for fiber-based wallpaper, 90.45 billion yen PVC resin wallpaper, 8.66 billion yen for plastic wallpaper, 5.5 billion yen for inorganic wallpaper and 1.29 billion yen for others. Sales of imported wallpaper was found to be 0.66 billion yen.
The total volume of shipped domestic wallpaper was 710,430,000†F (a year-on-year increase of 2.0%), slightly exceeding the previous yearÕs result for the first time in four years and returning to the figure to more than 700,000,000†F after one year.
Viewed by type, more sales than the previous fiscal year were achieved for PVC vinyl wallpaper, the key product, (with a year-on-year increase of 3.7%) and plastic wallpaper (olefin wallpaper such as acrylic wallpaper and EVA wallpaper) (up 6.9%), an outcome possibly attributable to higher demand in apartments. This is considered to stem from the declined in value-based market size in which deflation offsets the rising needs for mass-produced wallpaper and increased shipment quantity. Sales of paper-based wallpaper have tended to shrink since fiscal 2001 and the result for this fiscal year also saw a decrease of more than 20% because of the difficulty in handling construction work (down 27.5%). Sales of fiber-based wallpaper have consistently fallen each year albeit at a slowing pace (down 6.3%). Sales of inorganic wallpaper and other wallpaper also continued to experience double-digit declines.
Although the number of housing starts increased to about 1,170,000, the first rise in four years representing a year-on-year growth of 2.5%, consumer spending was stagnant because of uncertainty about the future and the wallpaper market continues to see falling selling prices in a difficult market, as in the previous fiscal year. In particular, mass-produced wallpaper suffers from low profitability for manufacturers, distributors and builders, so the industry faces a strong need to promote the product as an interior element, aiming at good products with appropriate prices and advertising wallpaper products.
Wallpaper earned reliability as a response to the sick house syndrome in connection with the revised Building Standard Law this fiscal year. However, it is likely that manufacturers will need to invest considerably to ensure a management system that can consistently keep and manage quality and that can respond to the Air Pollution Control Law. In addition, there are many issues such as the issue of waste wallpaper recycling. Concerted efforts should be made, combining knowledge to make the wallpaper industry prosperous and sound.


<Statistical materials used to determine market sizes>
1) The Wall Covering Association's ''Wallpaper Production and Shipment Volume'' extracted from the ''WACOA REPORT'' was used. The Wall Covering Association (Former Wall Decoration Material Association) founded in March 1, 2002, is the leading domestic organization in its industry that operate with 3 departments including Manufacturing, sales, and contract to stipulate the quality information control system for fire retardant wall decoration materials.
From its 77 regular and 149 quasi-regular member companies, the Association required its member companies to compile a monthly report on both production and shipment, which are compiled as the ''Wallpaper Production and shipment Volume''
This report was therefore used as it was seen to have sufficient reliability.
2) The market size for imports was calculated by estimating shares of NIF members in the market based on the "Report on the Survey of Results of Imports Including Interior Fabrics," since there are no official materials before Fiscal 2001. In this fiscal year, we started to use the statistics on "Wallpaper Production and Shipment Volumes" from WACOA REPORT, prepared by Wallcoverings Association of Japan, as with domestic wallpaper.
* There may be some discrepancies in the totals for each item in each wallpaper tables because of rounding.

 

Table 9. Market Size of Wallpaper (domestic products, imported products, wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are as percentages of previous year's figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2002
Total

1,396.2 (87.8)

1,272.8 (91.2)

1,137.3 (89.4)

1,121.3 (98.6)
  Domestic products

1,391.0 (88.4)

1,268.4 (91.2)

1,128.7 (89.0)

1,115.2 (98.8)
Imported products

5.1 (32.3)

4.4 (85.5)

8.6 (195.4)

6.6 (76.7)

@

Table 10. Market Size of Wallpaper (by product category, wholesale basis)

(Unit: 100 million yen; figures in parentheses are as percentages of previous year's figures)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Total

1,396.2 (87.8)

1,272.8 (91.2)
  Paper wallpaper

77.9 (94.4)

64.1 (82.3)
Cloth wallpaper

44.6 (85.0)

36.8 (82.5)
Vinyl wallpaper

1,089.4 (84.5)

991.9 (91.1)
Chemical fiber wallpaper

3.6 (85.7)

2.9 (90.6)
Inorganic wallpaper

103.3 (93.7)

95.3 (92.3)
Special wallpaper

76.7 (151.9)

81.8 (106.6)
Other wallpaper

0.7 (7.0)

0.0 (0.0)

@
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
Total

1,137.3 (89.4)

1,121.3 (98.6)
  Paper wallpaper

46.3

34.5 (74.5)
Cloth wallpaper

30.1

27.8 (92.6)
Polyvinyl chloride resin wallpaper

901

904.5 (100.4)
Plastic wallpaper

77.6

86.6 (111.6)
Inorganic wallpaper

66.4

55.0 (82.8)
Other wallpaper

15.9

12.9 (81.8)

 

 

[Reference Material]

Wallpaper Production and Shipment

(Unit: 1,000m2; figures in parentheses are as percentages of previous year's figures)

 

 Fiscal 2000 Fiscal 2001
Paper wallpaper Production

29,079 (111.5)

22,246 (76.5)
Shipment

28,521 (111.9)

22,823 (80.0)
Cloth wallpaper Production

4,913 (89.5)

4,313 (87.8)
Shipment

5,070 (89.3)

4,466 (88.1)
Vinyl wallpaper Production

627,259 (98.4)

622,650 (99.3)
Shipment

629,695 (97.7)

626,111 (99.4)
Chemical fiber wallpaper Production

184 (92.9)

175 (95.1)
Shipment

203 (100.5)

172 (84.7)
Inorganic wallpaper Production

47.104 (101.7)

44.298 (94.0)
Shipment

47.550 (102.2)

46.369 (97.5)
Special wallpaper Production

26,939 (177.5)

31,079 (115.4)
Shipment

26,114 (181.0)

31,118 (119.2)
Other wallpaper Production

324 (83.7)

0.0 (0.0)
Shipment

308 (78.8)

0.0 (0.0)
Total Production

735,802 (100.6)

724,761 (98.5)
Shipment

737,461 (100.0)

731,059 (99.1)

 

 Fiscal 2002 Fiscal 2003
Paper wallpaper Production

15,927

11,396 (71.6)

Shipment

16,675

12,088 (72.5)

Cloth wallpaper Production

3,812

3,511 (92.1)

Shipment

3,756

3,520 (93.7)

Polyvinyl chloride resin wallpaper Production

605,729

629,073 (103.9)

Shipment

603,658

626,289 (103.7)

Plastic wallpaper Production

36,149

39,314 (108.8)

Shipment

36,754

39,287 (106.9)

Inorganic wallpaper Production

31,827

24,845 (78.1)

Shipment

33,218

27,361 (82.4)

Other wallpaper Production

2,938

2,295 (78.1)

Shipment

2,768

2,275 (82.2)

Total Production

696,382 (96.1)

710,434 (102.0)
Shipment

696,829 (95.3)

710,820 (102.0)

@

Wallpaper sold at outlets such as bulk merchandisers operating in the Do-It-Yourself market is not included in "Wallpaper Production and Shipment Volumes" Statistics, produced by the Wallcoverings Association of Japan and used in determining the size of the market here. Hence, the wallpaper section in the "Volume and Value of Products Sold" by the Household Fusuma and Wallpaper Association has been extracted and included here for reference.
The scale of the market in fiscal 2003 was 2,253,920,000 yen (a year-on-year decrease of 20.1%), a dramatic decline. In concrete, sales of adhesive wallpaper fell 31.9% and sales of vinyl re-damp wallpaper dropped 61.1%, while demand for non-glue wallpaper was up 88.4%. This indicates that more professional users tended to purchase wallpaper at DIY stores as well as general consumers.

[Reference Material]

Household Fusuma and Wallpaper Association gVolume and value of products soldh

(Unit: 1,000m, 1,000 yen)
Fiscal 2000
Fiscal 2001
Fiscal 2002
Fiscal 2003
 Percentages of previous year's figures
Adhesive Volume

2,562

2,844

3,484

3,509

100.7
Value (including imported products)

1,233,958

1,354,063

1,976,103

1,344,935

68.1
Re-damp        PVC volume

1,037

1,529

1,724

1,056

61.3
PVC value

468,839

604,762

695,566

270,879

38.9
Cloth volume

0

0

0

0

0.0
Cloth value

0

0

0

0

0.0
Paper volume

770

683

642

404

62.9
Paper value

224,700

122,195

149,468

90,407

60.5
Imported volume

2

0

0

0

0.0
Imported value

2,290

0

0

0

0.0
Non-glue  Volume

542

124

362

830

229.3
Value

134,119

16,976

60,732

114,446

188.4
Volume for others (raw glue)      

2,440

0.0
Value for others (raw glue)      

433,257

0.0
Total volume

4,913

5,180

5,850

8,239

140.8
Total value

2,063,906

2,097,996

2,821,137

2,253,924

79.9

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