US cabinets demand to increase nearly 7% annually through 2006.

US demand for cabinets is projected to increase 6.8 percent per year through 2006 to $15.6 billion. Growth will increase relative to the 1996-2001 period as a result of stronger expenditures for residential repair and improvement projects, which constitute the single largest end use for cabinets.

Cabinet sales in the residential aftermarket will be further supported by renovation activity stemming from shifting consumer preferences in cabinet design, as well as by various demographic factors. Although demand for cabinets will be somewhat restrained by a sluggish new housing market, the effects of this weakness will be softened by building design trends that lead to greater cabinet use per residence. These and other trends are presented in Cabinets, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm.

Kitchen cabinets have traditionally dominated US cabinet shipments and will continue to account for over four-fifths of the total through 2006. These cabinets will benefit from the increasing size of kitchens, as well as from the continued popularity of kitchen remodeling projects. Moreover, shipments of kitchen-type cabinets will benefit from growing use in other rooms of the house (e.g., bedrooms and laundry rooms). Shipments of bathroom cabinets will also offer strong growth prospects through 2006, driven by design trends such as larger bathrooms and a greater number of bathrooms per house, as well as by repair and improvement activity.

Residential construction is the principal end use for cabinets, accounting for over three-quarters of total demand in 2001. While gains in residential cabinet demand will be somewhat restrained by a soft new housing environment, growth will be driven by a strong outlook for the installation of cabinets as part of residential repair and improvement projects. Gains in residential cabinet demand will also be fueled by trends in home design that encourage the use of cabinets, such as larger kitchens, more bathrooms per home, and the growing popularity of home offices and dedicated media rooms.

Although residential applications will continue to dominate cabinet demand through 2006, nonresidential markets will offer stronger growth prospects, rising 7.2 percent per year to $3.5 billion. Similar to the residential market, nonresidential cabinet demand will be driven by the repair and improvement of existing buildings. Growth will also stem from new construction activity, particularly in the key office and commercial, and institutional building segments.

Cabinets (published 07/2002, 252 pages) is available for $3,700 from The Freedonia Group, Inc., 767 Beta Drive, Cleveland, OH 44143-2326. For further details, please contact Corinne Gangloff by phone 440.684.9600, fax 440.646.0484 or e-mail pr@freedoniagroup.com. Information may also be obtained through www.freedoniagroup.com.

A limited license to use or reprint information from this news release is granted to you provided attribution for same--including, if possible, the price of the report--is given to The Freedonia Group, Inc. (Cleveland, OH). We would also appreciate the courtesy of receiving a copy of the article or publication in which we appear.

CABINET SUPPLY & DEMAND
(million dollars)

                                             % Annual
                                              Growth

Item                1996    2001    2006   01/96   06/01

Cabinet Demand      8124   11200   15570     6.6     6.8
  Residential       6465    8660   11980     6.0     6.7
  Nonresidential    1567    2450    3470     9.4     7.2
  Nonbuilding         92      90     120    -0.4     5.9

--net imports        189     490     890      --      --

Cabinet Shipments   7935   10710   14680     6.2     6.5

[c] 2002 by The Freedonia Group, Inc.

Contact: Corinne Gangloff Media Relations phone: 440.684.9600 fax: 440.646.0484 pr@freedoniagroup.com