SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS The $15 billion (manufacturers' dollars) U.S. door industry experienced sharper growth in 2004 and 2005 due to a strong housing market and a recovery in nonresidential construction activity. Demand benefited from strong personal income gains, low mortgage interest rates, and rising corporate profits. Dollar gains have been sharpest in the metal door sector where price gains have been strongest. However, wood doors continue to make inroads on a unit basis due to wood door's heavy dependence on the strong growing residential market. Despite strong industry growth, profit margins have been sluggish in recent years since material costs have been rising at a sharper rate than door prices. Manufactures have countered by seeking to improve labor productivity. The leading manufacturers are also making acquisitions to extend their product lines, expand their geographic reach, and benefit from economies of scale.
DOOR INDUSTRY TRENDS Catalina Research uncovered these trends in our in-depth 216-page report on the U.S. door industry. U.S. shipments, exports, imports, and price trends are evaluated for steel, aluminum, and wood doors. Steel and aluminum door shipments are further segmented for industrial, residential, and commercial and institutional markets. In addition, metal door shipments are provided by door type, such as overhead, sliding, swing, entry, and garage doors. Shipments for shower doors and storm doors are also provided. Wood door shipments are broken out for panel, hollow- and solid-core flush, molded face, patio, garage, bi-fold, cabinet, and other doors. Metal and wood door shipments are provided in units and dollars. Import data is included in order to evaluate the growing importance of foreign-sourced doors. Import data is provided for steel, aluminum, wood, and plastic doors. Import data is also provided for major countries of origin. Similar data is available for export shipments.
END-USE MARKETS AND DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS Shipment data is segmented for residential and nonresidential markets. Residential and nonresidential data is segmented by material and door type. Door purchases are also provided for the residential replacement market, manufactured housing plants, and recreation vehicle producers. Leading competitors and market trends are discussed for entry doors, patio doors, and garage door markets. Competitors are urged to use this information to develop strategies to uncover growing door products and applications. The retail distribution channel is discussed in order to review how the leading manufacturers are taking advantage of growing sales opportunities.
FACTORS AFFECTING DEMAND End-use market trends are correlated with U.S. housing demand, nonresidential construction spending, mortgage interest rates, and other economic indicators to uncover the factors affecting demand, and provide insights into the direction of domestic demand in 2005 and beyond. Demographics of replacement door purchasers are also evaluated.
PROFIT MARGINS AND THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT In addition, Catalina Research investigated the cost structure and profitability of U.S. door product plants. Data trends were compiled for material, labor, and capital inputs. As part of this analysis, Catalina profiled 17 leading North American manufacturers, compiled company door sales and profit margins, and calculated market shares. Brand penetration rates for five door product lines among builders and remodeling contractors were analyzed as well. Company profiles cover product lines, manufacturing and distribution, capital investments, acquisitions, and new products. Executives are urged to review the growth- and profit-oriented strategies of leading North American door manufactures.
CANADIAN DOOR INDUSTRY The Canadian door industry is analyzed as well. Shipments, imports, and exports are provided for steel, aluminum, and wood doors. Shipments are segmented by product line. Plant operating ratios are also provided. Leading manufacturers are reviewed as well.
Additional Information
SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY The Catalina Report on Doors is a guide to the growth- and profit-oriented opportunities in the manufacture and sale of metal and wood door products. This comprehensive database covers U.S. shipments, imports and exports, end-use markets, factors affecting domestic demand, the cost structure of metal and wood door product plants, the competitive environment, and the Canadian market situation. In addition, major North American manufacturers are profiled in order to uncover competitor strategies.
The total door product industry is analyzed on a dollar and unit basis in Section 1. Shipments are provided for complete doors and door systems and for frames shipped separately. Shipments are also segmented for metal and wood products. Data is compiled from U.S. Department of Commerce surveys. Catalina provides a comparative product line growth analysis in order to have the reader quickly uncover rising sales opportunities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index of metal and wood door products was utilized to construct a picture of total door price trends.
Sections 2 and 3 further segment door product shipments by material and product, and provide data on U.S. imports. Shipments are for all domestic manufacturers, whether plants are owned by U.S.- or foreign-based companies and whether or not plants specialize (50% or more of total facility revenues) in door products. Metal door product shipments are segmented into industrial, residential, and commercial and institutional markets and further divided into aluminum and iron and steel product lines. Data on shower doors and storm doors is provided as well. Wood door shipments are segmented in panel and flush type interior and exterior wood doors. Shipments are also broken down by door facing material. Specialty wood door shipments provide information on cabinet doors, storm doors, garage doors, patio doors, bi-fold doors, and others. Import data is derived from U.S. Customs Service records and round out the total U.S. supply. Import data is also provided by major country of origin.
Catalina adjusted the shipment data results provided from the U.S. Department of Commerce surveys. Shipment data was raised by allocating the Shipments Not Specified By Kind category for all door and window shipments and for each product sector to each sector and product line. Catalina decided to make this allocation since the Not Specified By Kind category is relatively high in the door and window industry. In the wood sector it was 15.4% of total shipments in 2002, and 8.6% in the metal sector. These shipments are generally made by plants with 5 or less employees. Since this is a significant share of door industry shipments, Catalina felt it was important to make the allocation to more accurately reflect U.S. shipments by sector and product line.
Door shipments are also analyzed by end-use market and application (section 4). Prime door shipments are segmented into residential and nonresidential markets. Residential and nonresidential market sales are further segmented by material and product type. Patio doors and garage door shipments are provided by material. The Census of Manufacturers provides purchases of door products at mobile home, prefabricated wood building, and recreation vehicle plants. Other government data trends provide statistics on building material dealer and home center door sales and homeowner spending on replacement doors. A separate section compiles and analyzes U.S. door product exports (Section 6). Export data is segmented by material, door type, and major country of destination.
In addition, Catalina Research investigated the factors driving demand by analyzing construction and other end-use market data (Section 5). Residential housing statistics include data on new housing completions, existing home resales, and mobile home placements. Housing starts and residential building permits further track new residential construction markets. The characteristics of newly completed U.S. housing units and existing housing units are also provided. Total homeowner remodeling and repair spending are analyzed as well. In addition, data is provided on household demographics and economic trends. Nonresidential construction spending is tracked by type of building.
Catalina supplies data on the cost structure and profitability of U.S. plants specializing (50% or more of total plant revenues) in the manufacture and sale of wood and metal door products (Section 7). U.S. Department of Commerce survey data covering these plants are supplemented with individual company sales data in order to calculate company market shares. Company sales statistics are compiled as part of an exhaustive effort to provide competitive intelligence (Section 10). Annual reports, databases, and trade journals were searched for growth- and profit-oriented strategies. Brand preferences ranked for new home builders and remodeling contractors for five product lines are provided from Professional Builder surveys (Section 8).
The Canadian market situation is evaluated from Statistics Canada data (Section 9). Data trends include plant shipments, exports, and imports. The cost structure of Canadian wood and metal door and window plants is also provided.
Action-oriented executives are urged to use this comprehensive statistical database and the competitor information to penetrate end-use markets, target key demographic markets, expand foreign market sales, and initiate profitable operating strategies. Executives are urged to compute their own company's market share and compare their company's operating ratios to the industry averages as part of this process.
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