Steel and non-wood products account for the overwhelming majority of prefabricated and modular building product systems shipped into Australian ports, with China alone responsible for more than 66% of all prefabricated building systems that are “drop shipped” to building sites.
That is, according to new ABS data analysed by IndustryEdge, which revealed that Australia’s imports of prefabricated and modular buildings have lifted to a record $326.4 million for the year to November 2025, a staggering 51.1% uptake on the last 12 months with modular steel ($75.8 million, up 246.8%) and prefabricated steel and other non-wood products ($227.3 million, up 28.9%) making up more than 92% of imports.
The data comes amid growing public and political interest in prefabricated and modular construction as a potential lever for addressing Australia’s housing supply shortfall. Yesterday, Wood Central reported that a major Australian developer is now partnering with a major Chinese construction firm to bring prefab expertise to address Sydney’s housing crisis, whilst the AustChina Institute is looking to establish a trade corridor for prefab to help close the gap.
But how much of these building materials are going into housing?
The ABS data paints a more nuanced picture of what is actually arriving at ports. The figures do not distinguish between industrial and commercial buildings and dwellings, making it difficult to determine how much of the record growth is being driven by residential demand. The formal product descriptors are published on the Border Force website under the 9406 Prefabricated Buildings classifications, with longer versions contained in the monthly ABS data series.
A closer look at the largest import category — 9406.90.00.04, covering steel and other non-wood prefabricated buildings — tells the story.
At $227.3 million, it accounts for nearly 70% of the total, and it is made up almost entirely of commercial and industrial products. The category contains no information on the value of dwelling imports. What it does list is cold rooms, spray booths, operating theatres, carports, greenhouses, interpreter booths, pod offices, observatory domes, vaults, laundries, showers, kitchens, bathrooms, and workshops — a long way from the housing conversation that has dominated the prefab narrative in recent months.
Wooden prefab buildings make up just 7.1% of all imports by value
Inevitably, most interest in the timber sector will centre on imports of prefabricated wooden buildings. The value here lifted $5.5 million, or 31.0%, to $23.3 million (FOB) over the year to November 2025. It’s a strong growth rate off a modest base — wooden prefab buildings still account for just 7.1% of total prefabricated building imports by value. Imports are spread across the states, reasonably consistent with population size.
On the supply side, mainland China accounted for 66.1% of total prefabricated building imports, or $215.9 million (FOB), for the year to November 2025. The picture shifts when specifically isolating the wooden prefab. China supplied 43.0% of imported wooden prefabricated buildings by value, with Estonia contributing 20.7% and Latvia 9.5% — a reflection of the Baltic states’ established expertise in timber construction and their growing footprint in the Australian market.
That Baltic connection is also worth watching. European timber producers have been actively diversifying their export markets since EU sanctions on Russian and Belarusian timber disrupted established supply chains from 2022. As Wood Central has reported, the reshaping of global timber trade flows has opened new corridors — and Australia’s wooden prefab import profile increasingly appears to reflect that shift.
There is no question that political and commercial interest in prefab housing is growing. But the import data suggests the reality has not yet caught up with the ambition. The bulk of Australia’s record $326.4 million in prefab imports is going into commercial and industrial applications, and for the timber sector, wooden prefab remains a small but growing corner of the market at $23.3 million a year.
The gap between where the conversation is and where the numbers are remains significant.
