The size of the market for carpets for fiscal 2006 rose 2.9% from the previous year, and is estimated at 237.2 billion yen, consisting of sales of 122.7 billion yen (with a year-on-year increase of 3.4%) for domestic products and 114.5 billion yen (up 2.4%) for imported products. The carpet market expanded for the third consecutive year, owing to a gradual but steady recovery characterized by an increase in capital spending enabled by steady corporate profits, and a recovery in personal consumption stemming from improvements in the employment and income environments.

The overall quantity of imported carpets rose 7.5% compared to the previous year, and also expanded 2.4% in value terms. The vast majority of imports came from China, a trend experiencing continued growth, with an increase of 15.5% in terms of quantity and an increase of 17.0% in value terms compared to the previous year. These volumes and this value account for nearly 70% and 60% of total imports respectively.

In terms of import quantity, China was followed by Thailand, India and Belgium, with these four leading countries accounting for over 90% of total imports. In value terms, the leading exporters included China, Belgium, India and Iran, which together accounted for over 80% of imports to Japan. Characteristically, the volume of miscellaneous carpeting that mainly includes Mayer and boa increased an outstanding 24.3%.

In the construction market, the number of new housing starts increased for the fourth consecutive year to approximately 1,285,000 households (rising 2.9% from the previous year). The total floor area of construction starts of all buildings was determined at 187,610,000 m² (up 1.0%), which was also the fourth consecutive year of growth. Among private non-residential buildings, the construction floor area of shops declined 9.5% from the previous year, the first decline in five years, but with that of offices increasing 2.5% recovering from a decline the previous year, the quantity of carpet tiles rose a significant 6.7%. Sales of piece and rug also increased significantly (with a year-on-year increase of 2.8%) although sales of roll carpets continued to decline.

The total number of automobiles produced was 11,480,000 (a year-on-year increase of 6.3%), achieving positive growth for the fifth consecutive year. This contributed to the rise in the overall quantity of carpets for transport use, registering an increase of 4.4% over the previous year. In the case of carpets installed in automobiles, the quantity of tufted carpets continue to decline slightly and needled-punched carpets increased due to cost factors, but in value terms, tufted and needled-punched carpets for transport use were almost equal.

[Plastic Floor Covering Materials]

Plastic floor materials include vinyl flooring, linoleum, rubber flooring and olefin flooring, and are collectively called high-polymer, stretch flooring materials. Vinyl flooring materials have the largest share of this market. The market size for vinyl flooring is determined by separate categories: composition tiles, other composition tiles, homogeneous tiles, regular vinyl sheets, anti-slip vinyl flooring sheets, cushioned flooring, inlaid sheets and miscellaneous PVC sheets.

The market scale of plastic floor materials is estimated for 2006 at 76.9 billion yen, a net increase of 4.2%.

General-purpose “composition tiles” refer to the most standard semi-hard type. (JIS code: CT) While they lack anti-corrosiveness, they maintain color and pattern even after corrosion, and have excellent durability as a complete product. The product is easy to install, 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. The market for 2006 declined 3.1% from the previous year to 3.1 billion yen.

“Other composition tiles” include those that are soft, semi-hard, and anti-static for retail and commercial facilities. The efforts of manufacturing companies to enhance the design and texture of tiles having a marble or wooden appearance for commercial facilities ended in vain with a 13.8% decline.

“Homogeneous tiles” are vinyl flooring tiles with a binder component of 30% or more, such as vinyl resin or elasticizer. Homogeneous tiles include a variety of products, such as printed tiles with printed patterns and inlaid tiles with patterns made by kneading and spraying chips. Compared to composition tiles, they have high chroma and feature a high level of design. Various products that possess the convenience and workability of carpet tiles have been released, such as ready-made floor tiles (symbol: HTL) that can be easily installed on the double flooring of office automation floors by using a peel-up binding agent. Nevertheless, the category declined 1.8%, ending at 11.1 billion yen.

The “regular vinyl sheet” is a vinyl floor sheet that is also called a long PVC sheet that has no foam layer. It is widely used as highly durable sheet flooring material in schools, hospitals, welfare institutions and factories. With the expansion of other PVC sheets, the category declined 11.2% to 9.6 billion yen.

“Anti-slip vinyl flooring sheets” have concaves and convexes on the surface of the sheet to ensure sufficient contact area between shoe soles and the floor material to enhance the anti-slip properties in the event of a water leak. This material is becoming more popular and is used in public corridors, on balconies and on the stairs of apartments more frequently. With new products that include additional features other than anti-slip, such as noise reduction for the floor below, the market performed well, increasing 14.4% to 11.1 billion yen.

“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 and the total thickness, for residential (1.8 or 3.5mm thick) and commercial (2.3 mm) applications. The 2.3-mm material for commercial use has been increasingly used in apartments in recent years. The type for household use is used mainly in damp areas such as kitchens, washstands and toilets, and its market size for fiscal 2006 expanded 9.2%, reflecting the increase in new housing fiscal starts.

Inlaid PVC sheets are sheets patterned with chips or pellets on their base material. Unlike printed products, the color and patterns on this product do not change under the effects of corrosion and are extremely durable. Although they comprise a small ratio of vinyl floor sheets, their market maintained its level last year thanks to use in large buildings, such as medical, academic and commercial facilities.

“Miscellaneous PVC sheets” include complex vinyl flooring sheets with a foam layer, products having special functions such as anti-static, antibacterial or anti-active summation properties, and highly designed vinyl flooring sheets with an accumulated printed layer. The market exhibited a stable increase over the past several years, and recorded an increase of 18.9%, an all-time high, over the previous year.

<Statistical materials used to determine market sizes>

1. Shipment volume: Statistical volume from the Interior Floor Industrial Association

The market size for wallpaper in fiscal 2006 was calculated at 110.89 billion yen, representing an increase of 2.4% over the previous year. By product category, sales marked 2.09 billion yen for “paper-based wallpaper,” 2.37 billion yen for “fiber-based wallpaper,” 95.32 billion yen for “PVC resin wallpaper,” 7.07 billion yen for “plastic wallpaper,” 3.01 billion yen for “inorganic wallpaper,” and 1.03 billion yen for “others.” Sales of imported wallpaper were found to be 0.85 billion yen. (It is difficult to classify imported wallpaper, so the sales figure is added to the sales of “others.”) The total volume of shipped domestic wallpaper was 730,400,000 m² (a year-on-year increase of 0.1%), slightly exceeding the previous year’s result and maintaining above 700,000,000 m² for the fourth consecutive year. While quantity slightly increased, market scale slightly declined. The reason for this result lies in the fact that the sales prices of mass-produced wallpapers that comprise a majority share of wallpapers had not improved while other construction materials raised their prices, and the level of competition is making the environment more severe. Viewed by category, sales for PVC vinyl wallpaper, which is comprised mostly of mass-produced wallpaper, exceeded the previous year's figures once more (up 2.3%), and its ratio to all wallpapers reached 92.5%. Sales of “plastic wallpaper” (olefin wallpaper such as acrylic wallpaper and EVA wallpaper), favored as an environmentally friendly alternative, declined further by another 6.3% from the previous year, posting negative growth on a year-on-year basis for the third consecutive year. The negative trends in sales of paper-based wallpaper also continued unabated, recording a drastic 30.5% drop from the previous year. Sales of “fiber-based wallpaper” dropped 4.3% from the previous year despite showing signs of a slowdown in its decline. Sales of “inorganic wallpaper” had the largest drop, declining 38.7%. Sales of “other wallpapers” were quantitatively small yet still fell below the performance of the previous year, dropping 31.9%. This was a year characterized by PVC vinyl wallpaper further expanding its overwhelming share. The number of new housing starts rose 2.9% from the previous year to 1,285,000, and total floor space of all construction marked 187,610,000 m² (1.0% increase), both displaying increases for the fourth consecutive year. This helped the wallpaper market expand, but it still cannot eliminate anxieties such as declining profits due to the loss of trust in the construction industry after the forged seismic calculations and frequent increases in material costs. In terms of shipments, the industry enjoys demand that exceeds 700,000,000 m² and shipments seem to be stable. Nevertheless, we can say that there is an increasing shift to products that facilitate construction and that offer a flexible price policy (mass-produced products), given the more severe market conditions. Meanwhile, the industry is increasingly aiming to promote wallpapers that have better functions, such as formaldehyde decomposition/deodorization, negative ions and photocatalytic features. We need to pay close attention to the trends of new ISM wallpapers that adapt to VOC. The industry should also promote diversity, the higher value and design quality of wallpaper, including hard PVC tack sheets and window decoration films, to link them to industry revitalization and new demand. We must aim at improving the quality (of products and the work preformed) to achieve a more prosperous and healthy wallpaper industry.