<<Revision of
Japanese Building Standards Law>>
Advisory to U.S. exporters of building products to Japan
TRADE EVENTS
Japan Home & Building Show in Tokyo (11/12 – 14, 2008)
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS
(for full report, please access our Market Research Library )
Housing Starts and Imports of Building Products
The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
(MLIT) announced Japan's total housing starts for June 2008 at a
level of 100,929 units, a 16.7% decrease compared to June
2007. Year on year starts of single-family and multi-family
dwellings decreased 7.4% to 40,735 units and 26.5% to 51,140
units, respectively, while row houses increased 18.9% to 9,054
units. Year on year 2x4 housing starts increased by 5.9% to
9,744 units, while prefabricated housing starts decreased by
11.5% to 13,277 units. Seasonally adjusted housing starts
on an annual basis increased 5.4% to 1,129,740 units in June
2008, as compared to May 2008.
Total imports of building products to Japan for the five-month period from January to May 2008 decreased 28.7% to 496.7 billion yen (about US$4,540 billion at 109.40 yen/US$), compared to 696.5 billion yen (about US$5.91 billion at 117.76 yen/US$) for the same period in 2007. Imports from the United States decreased 30.1% to 34.2 billion yen (US$312.3 million) from January to May 2008, compared to 48.9 billion yen (US$415.0 million) in the same period in 2007.
Japanese Residential Building Products Industry
The Japanese housing industry suffered an unprecedented setback
in 2007 in terms of numbers of newly built homes. This was
largely due to the revision of the Building Standards Law
(effective in June 2007), which greatly slowed the Building
Permit Application process. The sharp downturn of Japan’s
housing starts was notable in the second half of 2007 – on
monthly basis a 30-40% decrease, compared to the same month of
the previous year.
As a result, annual housing starts in Japan totaled 1.1 million
in 2007; the number still equates to the world’s second largest
housing market among developed countries, behind the United
States. CS Japan estimates the size of the total building
products market, including both residential and commercial
building products, at about 11.6 trillion yen (US$ 98.7 billion)
in 2007. The total imports of building products were1.5 trillion
yen (US$ 12.9 billion) in 2007, with imports from the Untied
States accounting for 104.6 billion yen (US$ 888.3 million) of
this total. Due in large part to a recovery from the sharp
fall of housing starts caused by confusion over the newly applied
Building Standard Law, the building products market is expected
to see some growth in 2008.
Many high-end U.S. residential building products have good market
prospects. As the Government of Japan launched its “200-year
residence” plan in 2007 to deal with ageing society, high quality
U.S. building products such as doors and wood windows are
expected to do well in the Japanese market. To realize the
“sustainable society” concept nested in the 200-year residence
plan, eco-friendly and health conscious building products have
also good potential in Japan. However, it is important to
note that imported residential building products are still niche
market products in Japan, and so for U.S. manufacturers who do
business in Japan for the first time, the initial sales may be
small. U.S. companies may want to consider selling their
products through trading companies or U.S. export consolidators.
It is then prudent to develop a relationship with a Japanese
agent or distributor, once the product is proven to be
successful.
UPCOMING REPORT
Housing Starts in Japan – July 2008 (late September 2008)
Imports of Building Products to Japan – June 2008 (late September
2008)
USEFUL LINKS
Residential Building Products
- Japanese Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) http://www.mlit.go.jp/english/index.html
- Building Center of Japan (BCJ)
http://www.bcj.or.jp/en/index.html - Imported House Industries Organization (Japanese Only) http://www.ihio.or.jp/
- National Association of Home Builders in the United States http://www.nahb.org/
- Evergreen Building Products Association http://www.ep.org/
CS JAPAN CONTACTS
Unit Chief: Pat
Cassidy
Residential Building Products: Takahiko Suzuki