Industry Restructuring Gaining Momentum

摘要

Japan's plastics industry experienced a leveling off in 2007 in terms of both synthetic resins and finished plastic products.The application areas of automobiles and digital home appliances such as flat panel displays continued to drive the market,while those of civil engineering and construction works remained sluggish due to a cutback in public investment,a revision of the Building Standards Law and no natural disasters such as typhoons,which usually give rise to additional demand for plastic films for example.The production of synthetic resins showed a slight upturn for the first time in two years and registered a record high in the five years since 2002,outpacing the amount in 2005.On a year-on-year basis,production grew in the first half of the year(with March,April and May showing 4-9% gains),but shrank in the latter half(except October)because of a slowdown in IT-related industries and fewer housing starts in the wake of the revised Building Standards Law,which took effect in June.