Mitsui & Co., the nation's second-largest trading house, may increase overseas investment in new projects to secure raw materials after prices dropped, competing with China and South Korea for resources.
The financial crisis has forced some investment funds to sell off assets, increasing opportunities, said Masami Iijima, who became president of Mitsui on April 1, without elaborating.
Japan is vying with China, the world's biggest consumer of commodities, and South Korea for resources in expectation that raw materials demand will rebound as economies recover. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities fell 4 percent in the last quarter, adding to a 50 percent drop in the second half of 2008 amid the recessions in the U.S., Europe and Japan.