Marubeni Corp. on Thursday reported a record net loss for the year that ended in March as it booked impairment losses in a wide range of businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic that sent commodities prices tumbling. The Japanese trading house swung to a consolidated ...
Marubeni to launch Japan's first large-scale offshore wind power business
Marubeni Corp. is gearing up to launch what it says will be Japan's first large-scale offshore wind power generation business. Tokyo-based Akita Offshore Wind Corp., an equity-method affiliate of the trading house, will set up 33 wind power generators at port facilities in the cities ...
Higher U.S. tariffs on Chinese products are expected to affect Marubeni Corp., Masumi Kakinoki, president and chief executive officer of the major trading house, said in a recent interview. "Japan will be affected for sure and so will Marubeni to some extent," said Kakinoki, who ...
Sōgō shōsha: Adapting to stay ahead as industries evolve
The sōgō shōsha's longevity, up until this point, can to a certain extent be attributed to their adeptness in being able to rapidly acclimate themselves to the changes in the business and economic environment over the years. By moving quickly and being flexible, the ...
Global challenges lie ahead as sōgō shōsha hunt for growth
While many global companies, including the sōgō shōsha, face similar political, economic, social, technological, managerial and other risks — much too many to cover here — Japan's nearly complete dependence on natural resource and raw material imports from overseas and its shrinking domestic market ...
Diversification, integration and the roles of trader and investor
There are some who have explained, in somewhat academic terms, the sōgō shōsha's upstream-downstream integration process by dividing it into two concepts: "diversification" and "integration." Weight of nontrading roles Simply, what is occurring is the business divisions' units are applying and combining such nontrading functions as ...
Adapting to new industries, bolstering world's infrastructure
The ability of the sōgō shōsha to survive through all the changes and transformations that have taken place over the years can, in many ways, be attributed to their adeptness in recognizing the rise of new industries early on and creating new businesses in ...
How the lifelines of the economy feed and fuel Japan
Given Japan's low food self-sufficiency ratio and dearth of energy resources, the sōgō shōsha have acted as a lifeline to Japan's economy through the import of foodstuffs and energy resources. However, the sōgō shōsha's involvement goes far beyond just importation. Here, I would like to ...
Sōgō shōsha: Understanding Japan's super suppliers and distributors
As mentioned before, the sōgō shōsha have two fundamental business models: Their traditional, core business model as trader, supplier, wholesaler and distributor of a vast array of goods and materials upstream and downstream in the supply or value chain, and as an organizer of ...
Tracing Japan's business giants from the late '80s to the 2000s
In the mid-1980s Japan was considered the most dynamic economy in the world and its manufacturers the most dominant. Japan's GDP growth had averaged around 7 percent per annum for the previous 30 years even with a slight downturn following the first oil shock ...
'Sōgō shōsha': Navigating the changing currents of Japan's industries
The Tokyo Olympics in 1964 marked the emergence of Japan as a consumer economy with the population growing, incomes rising and the economy expanding. In fact, the Japanese economy averaged nearly 10 percent annual growth between 1957 and 1972. Sales of TVs, refrigerators, automobiles, ...
Sōgō shōsha: Thriving through adversity in postwar Japan
This is the fourth part of a new series of reports written by industry specialists. The first 12 articles are about Japanese general trading companies, or sōgō shōsha. To understand better the businesses the sōgō shōsha are involved in today, a look should be taken ...
