Japan : Wool usage in interiors moderately lower in Q1

Data from the Japan Family Income & Expenditure Survey reveals floor covering purchases in Japan were seriously cut in the first quarter of 2007. While some recovery was evident in April and May, expenditure in the first 7 months as a whole, was well below year-earlier levels.
For the same period, expenditure on quilts, another key category for wool usage in interiors in Japan, was moderately lower.
The soft housing market in Japan has seen domestic demand conditions for wool in interior end uses soften and there is continuing threat given rising food and energy prices and a likely rise in interest rates by the end of September.
On the other hand, increased domestic production and imports of wool tufted carpets in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 may reflect reviving wool carpet demand from the industrial sector.