Sumitomo Corporation history

During his tenure Sumitomo was reorganized as a limited partnership, and renamed Sumitomo So-Honten in 1921.

In 1930 Sumitomo appointed Masatune Ogura to serve as director general.

Sumitomo Heavy Industries, established as a separate company in 1934, became a major producer of steelmaking systems, mass-production machinery, other heavy machinery and equipment, and ships.

Sumitomo Metal Industries, established in 1935, was called Fusō Metal Industries during the occupation after World War II. The company became a leading manufacturer of steel and steel products, and it diversified into semiconductors and biotechnology.

In 1944, the company merged with The Sumitomo Building Co., Ltd. and was renamed Sumitomo Real Estate Building Co., Ltd.

The Honsha was reorganized in November of 1945.

Nippon Engineering's head office sales department was set up in January 1946.

The firm listed its shares on the Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya Stock Exchanges in 1949.

Sumitomo Metal Mining, the descendent of the original company, was established in 1950.

Then, the company was renamed Sumitomo Shoji Kaisha Limited in June 1952.

In 1962, the Osaka and Tokyo sales offices were consolidated and a product division structure was adopted to establish nine product divisions: Iron & Steel, Nonferrous Metals, Electric, Machinery, Agriculture & Fishery, Chemicals, Textiles, General Products & Fuel and Real Estate.

In 1967, a project team was formed to promote large-scale projects, resource development and cultivation of new industries from a cross-divisional, medium- to long-term perspective.

Sumitomo adopted its current English name, Sumitomo Corporation, in 1978.

Then, in 1979, a sales division system was introduced to establish four sales divisions - Iron & Steel; Machinery & Electric; Nonferrous Metals, Chemical & Fuel; and Consumer Products - and the empowerment of each was promoted.

In 1988, the company set out its vision of becoming an Integrated Business Enterprise, aimed at promoting business activities in addition to the existing trading activities in order to expand its earnings base by having two major revenue sources.

Its difficulties included bad loans to affiliate Itoman and to the former Soviet Union that culminated in the 1990 resignation of the bank's chairman.

In 1991, the medium-term management plan "Strategy 95" was formulated with the aim of realizing the Integrated Business Enterprise vision.

In 1998, the Corporate Mission Statement was established, and the risk-adjusted return ratio was introduced as a new management indicator.

In 2003, the Sumitomo Corporation Corporate Governance Principles were established.

In 2013, for further accelerating the global consolidated revenue, the company introduced the Broad Regional Management System.

Sumitomo's strategy focused on natural resources through 2014, when the company booked hundreds of billions of yen in losses on tight oil (shale oil) and other energy-related investments.

Sumitomo announced in 2015 that it would refocus its business on the automotive and infrastructure industries and other non-resource businesses.

In 2017, in order to ensure sustainability as a corporation and to provide solutions for social issues, the "Six Material Issues to Achieve Sustainable Growth with Society" were laid out.

In 2019, the company created a new Corporate Message, "Enriching lives and the world" and celebrated its 100th anniversary.

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.