ZK International Group Co Ltd., is pleased to announce that the Company plans to expand its sales network and operations into Europe and North America. The worldwide increases in price and shortage of supply, has created an opportunity for ZK. As a result, ZK has already seen an increasing demand for its products and the Company’s business has returned to growth that is on schedule to surpass pre-pandemic levels. The Company is currently reviewing the potential of expanding its business outside of China and expects to be able to lay out those plans shortly.
As the pandemic evolves, it is disrupting the global supply chain of construction materials, and the shortages of construction materials in the US are now more widespread than at any time since National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) began tracking the issue on a regular basis in the 1990s in its survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) and Europe is falling into the same situation as the US. ZK’s core business is to engineer and manufacture patented high-performance stainless steel and carbon steel pipe products for the water and the oil & gas industry. The shortages of piping fixtures across Europe and North America are creating an opportunity for ZK to take its international sales to a new level.
Mr. Jiancong Huang, Chairman and CEO of ZK International, stated, “Due to the pandemic, we see a big gap between the supply and demand which creates a great opportunity for ZK to expand its international base. ZK currently exports its products to 14 countries in Europe and has no export sales in US at this point. The Company currently works with more than 60 partners across the world and has more than USD $6 million in revenues generated outside of China. We are committed to continuing to expand our sales forces in Europe and we plan to engage in the US market as well.”
Shortage of Construction Materials in Europe
ZK is looking to supply its products to distributors in the UK as builders continue to face material shortages, delays, and disruptions as the construction boom continues to drive demand. This is not only evident in the UK, but across Europe as demand for construction material continues to increase.
Shortage of Construction Materials in US
According to NAHB, shortages of materials are now more widespread than at any time since NAHB began tracking the issue on a regular basis in the 1990s in its survey for the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). In response to special questions on the May 2021 HMI survey, over 90 percent of builders who buy the product in question reported shortages of appliances, framing lumber and OSB. 75 percent said there was a shortage of plumbing fixtures and fittings.
To further illustrate how drastically the situation has changed since last year, the table below compares results from the last two HMI surveys on building materials. The share of builders reporting a shortage of plumbing fixtures and fittings skyrocketed by 54 points, from 21 to 75 percent.
About ZK International Group Co., Ltd.
ZK International Group Co., Ltd. is a China-based engineering company building and investing in innovative technologies for the modern world. With a focus on designing and implementing next-generation solutions through industrial, environmental and software engineering, ZKIN owns 28 patents, 21 trademarks, 2 Technical Achievement Awards, and 10 National and Industry Standard Awards.
ZKIN’s core business is to engineer and manufacture patented high-performance stainless steel and carbon steel pipe products that effectively deliver high quality, highly-sustainable and environmentally sound drinkable water to the Chinese, Asia and European markets. ZK International is Quality Management System Certified (ISO9001), Environmental Management System Certified (ISO1401), and a National Industrial Stainless Steel Production Licensee. It has supplied stainless steel pipelines for over 2,000 projects, which include the Beijing National Airport, the “Water Cube” and “Bird’s Nest”, which were venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. ZK International is preparing to capitalize on the $850 Billion commitment made by the Chinese Government to improve the quality of water, which has been stated to be 70% unfit for human contact.
In 2018, ZKIN established its wholly-owned xSigma Corporation to develop innovative software solutions that support its core operations while exploring new opportunities in smart contracts, distributed ledgers, supply chain management and blockchain architecture. The xSigma Labs team is made up of world-class developers and engineers formerly of Facebook, Google, Amazon, Ripple and 1inch, most recently launching its first DeFi project in the Fall of 2020.
In March of 2021, ZKIN announced the formation of its new wholly-owned subsidiary, xSigma Entertainment Limited. It was established as part of ZK’s integrated network of companies focused on developing and investing in innovative software technology platforms. xSigma Entertainment’s mandate is to acquire assets in the high-growth US gaming market. Sigma Entertainment aims to increase shareholder value by targeting and investing in early stage online gambling businesses that are poised for exponential growth and exits.