 | |
 Headquarters inChiyoda, Tokyo | |
Native name | 住友商事株式会社 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Sumitomo Shōji kabushiki gaisha |
| Company type | Public |
| Industry | General trading |
| Founded | 24 December 1919; 105 years ago (1919-12-24), inOsaka, Japan |
| Headquarters | Ōtemachi,, Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Kazuo Ohmori (chairman) Masayuki Hyodo (president andCEO) |
| Services | Metal Construction Transportation Infrastructure Chemicals Energy Mineral resources Food Consumer Goods |
| Revenue |  $ 32.16 billionUSD (FY 2013) (¥ 3,317 billionJPY) (FY 2013) |
 $ 2.16 billion USD (FY 2013) (¥ 220.06 billion JPY) (FY 2019) | |
Number of employees | 72,642 (consolidated as of March 31, 2020) |
| Subsidiaries | SCSK TBC Corporation (50%) |
| Website | Official website |
| Footnotes / references [1][2][3] | |
Sumitomo Corporation (Japanese:住友商事株式会社,Hepburn:Sumitomo Shōjikabushiki gaisha) is one of the largest worldwidesōgō shōsha general trading companies, and is a diversifiedcorporation. The company was incorporated in 1919 and is a member company of theSumitomo Group.
It is listed on three Japanesestock exchanges (Tokyo, Nagoya and Fukuoka) and is a constituent of theTOPIX andNikkei 225stock indices.[4][5] Today, the company is one of the top threesōgō shōsha companies in the world.
TheSumitomo Group, of which Sumitomo Corporation is a key member, dates to the 17th century establishment of a book and medicine shop in Kyoto byMasatomo Sumitomo. Sumitomo's brother-in-law Riemon Soga developed a technology to extract silver from copper, and Soga's son (who married Sumitomo's daughter) Tomomochi Sumitomo expanded this smelting business to Osaka. From this start, the Sumitomo family expanded its business into copper mining (theBesshi copper mine), followed by textiles, sugar and medicine trading.[6]
The Sumitomo family was close to theTokugawa shogunate throughout theEdo period. During the 1860s, this relationship became a liability for the firm as theTokugawa clan warred with rivals in western Japan. Following the Tokugawas' defeat, Sumitomo was almost ruined and under pressure to sell the Besshi mine, which by that point was nearly unworkable. However, Sumitomo kept the mine and improved its output through adoption of new Western techniques.[7] During the rapid westernization of Japan in ensuing decades, Sumitomo started various new trading, manufacturing and financing businesses, becoming one of the majorzaibatsu of early 20th century Japan.[6]
Sumitomo Corporation was incorporated in December 1919 asThe Osaka North Harbour Co., Ltd. to engage in real estate management, land reclamation, land grading, harbor repair construction and related work in the Osaka northern harbor region. In 1944, the company merged with Sumitomo Building Co., Ltd. (established August 1923; capital stock 6.5 million yen) to formSumitomo Building and Real Estate Co., Ltd.[8]
Sumitomo was integral to Imperial Japan's war machine duringWorld War II, but the war destroyed most of Sumitomo's industrial infrastructure within Japan. The ensuing Allied occupation led to the forced breakup of the largest Japanese companies, including Sumitomo, and transfer of Japanese industrial assets as part of reparations.[7] Sumitomo Building transitioned to general trading, looking to handle products from Japan's major manufacturing firms in various industries, and changed its name toNippon Engineering Co., Ltd. (Nihon Kensetsu Sangyo Kaisha), starting a new existence as a general trading firm with a sales staff of just 32 people. The firm listed its shares on the Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya Stock Exchanges in 1949.[6][8]
As regulations on large companies were relaxed in the 1950s, Nippon Engineering resumed closer relations with other Sumitomo Group companies through the "White Water Club" (Hakusui-kai), a coordinating meeting of company presidents.[7] The company began to grow overseas in the 1950s, starting business inMumbai in 1950 and inNew York City in 1952. It changed its name toSumitomo Shoji Kaisha, Ltd. in 1952. By the 1960s Sumitomo officially aimed to be one of the "Big Three" general trading companies, alongsideMitsubishi andMitsui. In 1970, Sumitomo established a second head office in Tokyo and merged with Sogo Boeki Co., Ltd. Sumitomo adopted its current English name, Sumitomo Corporation, in 1978.[8] The company's transactional volume increased by a factor of ten from 1955 to 1965, and again by a factor of ten from 1965 to 1975. Like itszaibatsu cohorts Mitsubishi and Mitsui, Sumitomo established akeiretsu business group centered on itself andSumitomo Bank.[7]
Sumitomo's strategy focused on natural resources through 2014, when the company booked hundreds of billions of yen in losses ontight oil (shale oil) and other energy-related investments. The company's president, Kuniharu Nakamura, attributed these losses to both adverse market factors and Sumitomo's relative inexperience in the field. As a result of these setbacks, Sumitomo was overtaken byItochu as Japan's third-largest general trading company. Sumitomo announced in 2015 that it would refocus its business on the automotive and infrastructure industries and other non-resource businesses.[9]
Berkshire Hathaway acquired over 5% of the stock in the company, along with four other Japanese trading houses, over the 12-month period ending in August 2020.[10]
One of Sumitomo's largest investments is in theAmbatovy nickel mining project inMadagascar, where it had invested approximately $2.4 billion as of 2015 in a joint venture with Korea Resources and others.[11]
Sumitomo is a 50% investor inSES Water, a UK water supply company, together with Osaka Gas.[12]
Sumitomo is a major investor in theTuro car-rental service, and plans to facilitate the service's debut in Japan around 2020.[13]
Sumitomo, along withMitsubishi Heavy Industries, worked with theDepartment of Transportation of thePhilippines for the rehabilitation of theMRT Line 3 inManila from 2019 to 2021. Sumitomo previously maintained the line from 2000 to 2012, until the line was seen to be deteriorated in the following years due to poor maintenance.[14]
Sumitomo is in a joint venture with theJapan Transport Engineering Company (J-TREC) for the production of a total of 51 commuter train sets (408 cars) in two separate contracts for thePhilippine National RailwaysNorth–South Commuter Railway[15][16] and the production of 30 8-car train sets (240 train cars) for theMetro Manila Subway.[17]
Sumitomo is an investor inLRT Line 1 operatorLight Rail Manila Corporation, a railway consortium composed ofMetro Pacific Investments Corporation,Ayala Corporation, and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) PTE Ltd. since May 2020.[18][19]
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Members ofHakusuikai arebolded. Hakusuikai is an association of the presidents of the Sumitomo companies. *Mitsui Group companies | ||
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| Electrical equipment | ||
| Trading | ||
| Finance and insurance | ||
| Real estate | ||
| Transport and warehousing | ||
| Information and communication | ||
| International | |
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