is one of the largest ''
sogo shosha
are Japanese companies that trade in a wide range of products and materials. In addition to acting as intermediaries, ''sōgō shōsha'' also engage in logistics, plant development and other services, as well as international resource explorat ...
'' (general trading companies) in Japan; it is part of the
Mitsui Group
is one of the largest ''keiretsu'' in Japan and one of the largest corporate groups in the world.
The major companies of the group include Mitsui & Co. ( general trading company), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nippon Paper Industries ...
.
History
![MITSUI & CO](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/MITSUI_%26_CO.%2C_LTD._2.JPG)
The company was established in 1876 with 16 members including the founder,
Takashi Masuda
Baron , was a Japanese industrialist, investor, and art collector. He was a prominent entrepreneur in Meiji period, Meiji, Taishō period, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japan, responsible for transforming Mitsui into a ''zaibatsu'' through ...
. As Japan's international trading was dominated by foreigners since the end of the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...
, it aimed to expand business owned by Japanese citizens. By the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, it became a dominant trading giant, but was dissolved by the order of
GHQ.
The current Mitsui & Co. was established in 1947 as Daiichi Bussan Kaisha, Ltd. (''First Bussan Corporation Ltd''). In 1959, it merged with several other trading companies and changed its name to Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
During Japan's period of rapid postwar economic growth, the firm was a key player in several major natural resources projects. In 1971, it took a stake in an offshore gas field near
Das Island
Das Island is an Emirati island in the Persian Gulf. It lies about north-west of the UAE mainland; Qatar is also close by. It covers approximately by , and was almost rectangular in shape, but was significantly expanded to the south by artif ...
in
Abu Dhabi, which supplies
liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the vol ...
to Japan on an exclusive basis; it invested in a major Western Australian LNG project in 1985 and in the
Sakhalin II project in 1994.
Its subsidiary
Mitsui Oil Exploration's MOEX Offshore had a 10% stake in the ''
Deepwater Horizon
''Deepwater Horizon'' was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean and operated by BP. On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, a blowout caused an explosion ...
'' well in the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
through a subsidiary, and in May, 2011, MOEX agreed to pay US$1.07 billion to settle
British Petroleum claims against it over the explosion and
oil spill at the well. Some analysts had thought BP would realize a larger settlement from MOEX but there was also relief to have a first step toward
resolving the multiple claims.
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...
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.
Business areas
Mitsui engages in six major business areas:
* Energy:
Upstream
Upstream may refer to:
* Upstream (bioprocess)
* ''Upstream'' (film), a 1927 film by John Ford
* Upstream (networking)
* ''Upstream'' (newspaper), a newspaper covering the oil and gas industry
* Upstream (petroleum industry)
* Upstream (software ...
development and trading in oil and gas, the firm's's largest line of business, accounting for over half of its consolidated EBITDA and net earnings in the first half of fiscal year 2015.
Mitsui has two major energy projects in the United States, at the
Marcellus Shale
Marcellus may refer to:
* Marcellus (name)
* Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman commander
Places
* Marcellus, Lot-et-Garonne, France
* Marcellus Township, Michigan
** Marcellus, Michigan, a village in Marcellus Township
** Marcellus Community Sch ...
in the Mid-Atlantic and the
Eagle Ford Shale
The Eagle Ford Group (also called the Eagle Ford Shale) is a sedimentary rock formation deposited during the Cenomanian and Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous over much of the modern-day state of Texas. The Eagle Ford is predominantly compos ...
in Texas.
* Metals: Development and trading with a focus on
iron ore and
steel. This business accounts for about a quarter of consolidated EBITDA and net earnings.
In 2014 Mitsui acquired a stake in the
Moatize
Moatize is the principal town and administrative center of Moatize District in western Mozambique's Tete Province. It is located on the eastern side of the Zambezi River at the confluence of the Moatize and Revuboe Rivers. After Tete, it is the ...
coal mine and
Nacala
Nacala, also known as Cidade de Nacala or Nacala-Porto is a city on the northern coast of Mozambique. Located in the southwestern indentation of inner Fernao Veloso Bay, it is the deepest natural port on the east coast of Africa. Nacala serves as ...
rail and port development in
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
from the Brazilian mining company
Vale.
* Chemicals: basic and performance chemicals including fertilizers, electronics materials and functional materials.
* Machinery and Infrastructure: Sells, finances and invests in large-scale plants, ships, aircraft, automobiles and other heavy machinery.
* Lifestyle: food, retail, healthcare, fashion, forestry and real estate. In 2014, CEO Masami Iijima identified this segment as an area of particular interest, particularly in relation to Mitsui's cooperation with
Lippo Group in Indonesia.
* Information and Corporate Development: information technology, finance and logistics.
Recent activities
* Wastewater treatment service project, Mexico
*
Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh ...
II
LNG
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
Project, Russia
* Photovoltaic Power Project,
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
, Spain
* Acquisition of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
TV Shopping Company
*
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
Biofuel Project with
Petrobras
* Bald Hills Wind Farm Project,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia
* Umm Al Nar Power and Water Project,
Abu Dhabi
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsui and Co.
Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Companies listed on the Osaka Exchange
Conglomerate companies based in Tokyo
Keiretsu
Mitsui
Trading companies based in Tokyo
Companies established in 1876
Japanese companies established in 1876