Bull s
JK Holdings
Quarterly Report

January,2021
CONTENTSInternational

P1P2P3P461No.

JK Holdings Overview of Second Quarter
Results, Fiscal Year Ending March 2021
Active Employment of the Disabled: Cultivating Herbs in Indoor Plantations
Prospect of Business Condition for January − March
Wooden Construction by KEYTEC Co., Ltd.
Nasushiobara City Library "MIRURU":
Enjoyable Reading in the Forest
Japan Kenzai Co., Ltd. & Oshika Corporation
released an innovative new product: Super
Water Repellent Plywood Benkei LS BoardJK Holdings Overview of Second Quarter
Results, Fiscal Year Ending March 2021
Housing starts for the second quarter totaled 413,400 units(down 11.3% year-on-year). Housing starts for the owner-occupied, which is our main market, decreased 14.2% to131,300 units, showing a double-digit decline continuously
although they recovered from the results in the ﬁrst quarter.
Under these circumstances, our group has been working on

Keiichiro Aoki

President
JK Holdings Co.,Ltd.

our sales activities, carefully taking various steps to prevent

decline in sales. Net income attributable to shareholders of theinfection with COVID-19. At the same time, we have been de-parent company increased to 1.173 billion yen (up 5.0%) due

veloping a system for the next generation. We have launched

to the gain from mergers and acquisitions. The group compa-

four project teams in order to accelerate the examination andnies demonstrated their strength against the coronavirus crisis,

implementation of the measures listed in our medium-termeven though there were some special factors that contributed

management plan "Breakthrough 21".

to the growth in proﬁts.

Our sales totaled 164.07 billion yen, down 11.2% from theOur full-year targets for this ﬁscal year are 342 billion yen

previous year, which is the same level as the decline in hous-in sales, 3.5 billion yen in operating proﬁt, 3.2 billion yen ining starts. Operating proﬁt, on the other hand, was 2.118

ordinary proﬁt, and 1.6 billion yen in net income attributablebillion yen (down 4.7%), a slight decrease compared to theto shareholders of the parent company.

Summary

Active Employment of the Disabled:
Cultivating Herbs in Indoor Plantations

As creating an environment where diversiﬁed human resourc-well as be handed out as a free merchandise at events.

es can play active roles has been emphasized lately, eﬀorts
for employment of the disabled have been diversiﬁed as well.
JK Holdings Co., Ltd. started trying an employment support
system for the disabled called "IBUKI", provided by Start
Line Co., Ltd., sympathizing with its activities where people
can demonstrate their abilities in indoor plantation tasks tocontribute to society through agricultural work.
Eight employees from JK Holdings work at IBUKI. They
cultivate ﬁve kinds of herbs as peppermint, spearmint, lemonbalm, apple mint, and marjoram to process into herbal tea,
which will be distributed to our employees in the Group as"IBUKI", an employment service for people with disabilities
using an indoor farm

Bulls International No.61

2Survey
Prospect of BusinessCondition for
January-March<Demand Forecast by
Builders and Distributors>
Housing starts for January to September 2020 totaled 608,214 units, whichis 89.1% of the year-on-year results. Byowner/occupant, the number of owner-occupied houses dropped to 87.6% ofthe previous yearʼs one and single-family homes built for sale decreased to88.8%. The owner-occupied homesector, which has been falling after theconsumption tax hike in October 2019,has been improving gradually since thebottom in May 2020 when the government announced a state of emergency.

100.3

5.1

1.0

2.0

-7.3
-18.3

-20
-30
-40
-50
-60
-70

-80 Jan-Mar
2019

By region, the index for Hokkaido
worsened from the previous survey,
but the margin of decline shrank in allother areas throughout the country, andthe areas west of the Chubu region inparticular made a remarkable recovery.

This time we surveyed the impact of thecoronavirus pandemic on the businessperformance of the targeted companies
and the status of their customers. Most
businesses saw that their sales were 80
to 90% of the normal pace for April to
September 2020, which is the same as
the percentage in housing starts, butsome companies had 100% or morein their sales results. The majority of
the respondents found "some" or "no"closing date extension; the pandemic
seems to have had only a small eﬀect
on the industry so far. As to the statusof their customers, 9% of the respondents found "delay in payment" and 4%
faced "bankruptcy or closure" of theircustomers.

<Sales Forecast by Leading
Manufacturers>

Demand Forecast by Builders
0of ceramics & insulation and housing
equipment. More than half of the respondents from the housing equipment
sector in particular showed expectations
to be the same as in the previous year
or growth expectations.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic and its prolongation to the industry
is unpredictable in 2021 and after. It
should be watched how the recovering
trend we saw this time will be in thenext survey.

The demand forecast survey for January
to March 2021 shows an index of minus-1046.0 points among small builders (contractors and other building companies)
and that of minus 48.5 points among
distributors. The number of negative
points decreased compared with the last
survey, and the number of points thatremained unchanged from the previousyear increased.

Among the sales forecasts by leading
manufacturers, each sector found more
expectations to be thesame as in the previous year. Although thesectors of plywood andwooden building materials have 0% in their
growth prediction, there-46.0
are some growth expectations in the sectors-65.4

Jan-Mar
2020

Jul-Sep2020

According to a survey conducted by
Teikoku Databank, the number of bankruptcies of construction and engineering businesses was the fourth largest
by industry as of November 2020, and
it is concerned that bankruptcies may
increase as the COVID-19 pandemic isprolonged.

The forecast survey for January to March 2021 is based on the totaled data
gathered from 3,000 client companies in Japan through the Internet, which
took place from late-October to mid-November 2020.

-67.0
Jul-Sep
2019<Various>

Jan-Mar
2021

Point0=business result in April-June,1992

Dealing Volume of Lumber

Demand Forecast by Distributors

65

209.2
20
1004.901.9 1.9-15.4-10-10-6.4
-20
-20
-30
-30
-48.5
-40
-40
-50
-50
-66.7
-60
-60
-70
-70
-68.6
-80-80Jun-Mar
Jul-Sep
Jun-MarJul-Sep
Jun-Mar

102019

2019

2020

2020

60
55
50
Laminated lumber
Solid lumber
Precut lumber
LVL

454035 Jan-Mar
2019

2021

Apr-Jun2019

Jan-Mar
2020

Apr-Jun2020

Jan-Mar
2021

Point100=all responses expect increase

Point0=business result in April-June,1992

Sales Forecast by Major Supplying Manufacturers（Jan-Mar 2021）
increaselevel-offdecreaseover15％14 ～ 10％

below10％

below10％10 ～ 14％

over15％

0.0

0.0

0.0

36.3

36.4

18.2

9.1

0.0

0.0

0.0

42.1

36.8

15.8

5.3

0.0

0.0

8.7

17.4

60.9

13.0

0.0

House Equipments（9firms）

0.0

0.0

14.3

38.1

33.3

14.3

0.0

average

0.0

0.0

5.8

33.5

41.9

15.3

3.6

Plywood（13firms）
Wooden Building Materials（10firms）
Ceramic/Heat Insulation（15firms）

International No.61

Trend
Market Outlookof Plywood<Trend of Domestic Plywood>
Japanʼs production of softwood plywood was 264,053 cubic meters in October 2020 (89.2% of the result in thesame month of the previous year), andthe shipment of this item was 269,150
cubic meters (91.4%). Its inventories
decreased for the ﬁfth straight monthwith 119,132 cubic meters (87.7%).
For the low inventories, the manufacturers are increasingly trying to do priceincrease, and the new prices are gradually penetrating to the distributors. Dueto the fact that the delivery time is longer than it was before, placing orders
earlier is required.
The special measures for employment
adjustment grants will be extended
until the end of February. Production
and sales are expected to be based on
the supply-demand balance for the time
being, as plywood manufacturers nolonger have to overdo production to cut
the costs. It seems that the manufacturers have the initiative in determining
the market conditions for the present.

<Trend of Imported Plywood>
The volume of imported plywood was
180,107 cubic meters (83.7% of theresult in the same period of the previous year) in October 2020, which
turned upward (133.7％ ) comparedto the results of 134,613 cubic metersin the previous month. Looking at theresult by country of origin, the amountof import from Malaysia was 64,107
cubic meters (94.5%), that from Indonesia was 59,592 cubic meters (74.0%),
and that from China was 41,668 cubicmeters (84.0%).
Although the imported amount in-Bulls

creased slightly from the previousmonth, the port inventories have been
decreasing due to the low level of import and the upward shipment, resulting
in more and more items out of stock.
The market price has ﬁnally started torise and new prices are gradually penetrating through the market. However,the price quoted by local manufacturers
and the speed of price raise are too farapart at present; it seems that importers
must be cautious about new orders in
the future.
The business of imported plywood islikely to keep steady fo

Wholesalers' Prices of Plywood in Tokyo

yen/sheet

Imported Plywood（Structural Use）
Imported Plywood（Concrete Form）
Domestic Plywood［Softwood Plywood for Structural Use(12mm)］
Domestic Plywood［Softwood Plywood for Structural Use(24mm)］

2500

2000

1500

10005000Jun 2020

Jul 2020

Aug 2020

Sep 2020

Oct 2020

Nov 2020Topics

Wooden Construction by KEYTEC Co., Ltd.
Nasushiobara City Library "MIRURU": Enjoyable Reading in the Forest
Design and construction period: April
2016 - January 2020
Location: Nasushiobara City, Tochigi
Prefecture
Use: Library
Total ﬂoor area: 4,968 square meters
Structure: Steel structure, partially RCstructure, two stories above ground
Designer: UAo
Builder: Ishikawa, Ikoma, and Yorozu
Special Construction Joint Venture
Materials: KEYLAM Interior FR (approx. 30 cubic meters)
The City Library "MIRURU" locatedin front of Kuroiso Station in Nasushiobara City was built with the conceptof "Letʼs read books in the forest." Itsinterior is designed to look as if you
are looking up at big trees, using plentyof wooden materials for the ceilings,
furniture, bookshelves, and others.

KEYTECʼs LVL of random width andlength is assembled into louvers forthe ceilings to create a space that reminds us of a forest. The second ﬂoor
in particular has a three-dimensional
structure, which represents a design ofa grove of trees.

Inside and outside of Nasushiobara City Library "Miruru"

34Bulls International No.61

CompanyJapan Kenzai Co., Ltd. & Oshika Corporation released aninnovative new product for Japan's distribution and logistics
including marine containers: Super Water Repellent Plywood“Benkei LS Board”
Marine transportation, which is the cor-

"Benkei LS Board" is a new productSetting an ideal of making Japanese

nerstone of logistics for long-distancemaking use of the procurement network

manufacturers to gain a competitivetransportation across the sea in interna-of Japan Kenzai Co., Ltd, the largest

edge in the global markets, we will

tional trades, takes a long time, but canbuilding materials wholesaler in the

support those who would like to focus

carry a large amount of freight and has

country, and the technical capabilities

on their corporate branding as well as

the advantage of lower cost comparedof Oshika Corporation, Japan's leading

to prevent accidents from occurring.

to other means of transportation. On

adhesive manufacturer, to enhance thethe other hand, its disadvantage is thatvalue of wooden materials. We have

Product Speciﬁcations

products can be damaged by rain andachieved super water-repellent perfor-

Product name: Super Water Repellent

sea water through stormy weather wemance of the product that reduces mois-

Plywood Benkei LS Board

might encounter as the maritime weath-ture permeability to half of ordinary

Size: Thickness 9mm or 12mm

er is changeable. Conventional packag-

plywood. It allows high water-resis-

1230 x 2440 / 910 x 1820

ing plywood used for exporting woodentance performance in various environ-

Grades: Plywood base materials andframes in Japan is inexpensive plywood

mental changes during transportationwater-repellent grades are adjustable tofrom China and Vietnam that does notby container ships to prevent molds, de-meet your needs.

meet JAS standards. Pursuing lower

tachment of veneers, and deterioration

cost, however, can sometimes causeof plywood, thus protecting the import-

molds on plywood or detachment of

ant cargoes of our customers.

veneers through marine transportation.

Super water repellent plywood"Benkei LS Board"

Conventional plywood for packing

Adding a water-repellent andmoisture-proof function on thefront and back reduces plywood
deterioration!
Wood Land Tower 1-7-22 Shinkiba Koto-ku,Tokyo 136-8405 Japan
Phone +81-3-5534-3800 Fax +81-3-5534-3833
E-mail kouhou@jkhd.co.jp
URL http://www.jkhd.co.jp
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