Sumitomo Corp. to Combine Japan Sheet Processing Subsidiaries

Sumitomo Corporation announced on Monday the firm integrates the coil center subsidiaries of Tanimoto Steel and Sumisho Steel Sheets Works into Summit Steel in October. The group tries to improve the efficiency for better cost competitiveness under shrinking domestic demand.

The new company is based on headquarters of Tanimoto Steel. The combined processing capacity is annual around 1.2 million tonnes or one of the domestic top processors when the capacity is around 640,000 tonnes for Tanimoto Steel and around 560,000 tonnes for Sumisho Steel Sheets Works.

Sumitomo Corp. controls 90% of Tanimoto Steel with 10% share by Sumitomo Corp.’s subsidiary, Hokkaido Shearing. Sumitomo Corp. controls 89.2% of Sumisho Steel Sheets Works with 10.8% by Sumitomo Metal Industries. Tanimoto Steel has 5 plants in Osaka, Chiba, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi and Sumisho Steel Sheets Works has 4 plants in Osaka, Hyogo, Shiga and Oita.

Sumitomo Corp. started reshuffling of the domestic coil centers after Lehman shock. The firm closed Saitama plant of KS Summit Steel in 2009 and integrated Hokkaido branch of Tanimoto Steel into Hokkaido Shearing in 2010. Sumitomo Corp. also integrated Oita’s plant into Sumisho Steel Sheets Works in 2011.

Through the integration, the group tries to improve the operation efficiency especially in western Japan. The group integrates financial and processing management system for the group companies.