BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

of the three companies in April 2009 to use the expertiseand capability each had accumulated over the years topursue synergies that allowed Toyotsu Chemiplas tobecome the investment and project management companyspecializing in chemical products and automotivematerials that it is today. This made it possible to offercustomers a wider range of commercial materials in morecombinations than ever before and to promote the furtherimprovementinspecializedexpertiseandcapabilities.4 Developing Business in Import and Sales ofInorganic Chemicals and PharmaceuticalsIn December 2002, Toyota Tsusho invested inAustralian silica sand mining and refining companyAustsand Mining Pty. Ltd., and then invested in anotherAustralian company, Kemerton Silica Sand Pty. Ltd. inSeptember 2008. Next, Toyota Tsusho invested in theMalaysian silica sand mining and refining company,Terengganu Silica Consortium Sdn. Bhd., in March 2013.Toyota Tsusho was involved in the import and export ofyellow phosphorus and iodine in addition to the silicasand, and these three inorganic chemicals formed theaxis of a trading volume that made Toyota Tsusho thelargest furnisher of these materials among general tradingcompanies.In the pharmaceutical field, Toyota Tsusho AmericaInc. acquired rights to and started selling the diagnosticdrug used to determine postprandial hyperglycemia, aprecursor to diabetes, in the U.S. In 2008, Toyota Tsushoentered a joint venture with Nippon Kayaku and TTAIto form GlycoMark Inc. to promote sales outside of theU.S. in Europe, Southeast Asia, South America, and theMiddleEast.5 Funding Chile’s Iodine Development andManufacturing CompaniesToyota Tsusho and Chilean iodine manufacturer ACFMinera S.A. jointly invested in iodine developer andmanufacturer Algorta Norte S.A. in 2010 and startedthe production of iodine in a plant constructed inAntofagasta, Chile, in 2011. Since the first shipment inMarch 2012, exports to China, India, North America,and Europe have expanded, and sales have steadilygrown. Investment in this company achieved a three-wayproduction system between Japan, North America, andChile so that as world wide demand for iodine expands avalue chain was built from the supply of raw materials todownstream of the product sector.6 Expanding the Hygiene Products BusinessThe market for diapers and sanitary products that relyon superabsorbent polymer (SAP) expanded during the2010s. Toyota Tsusho signed a joint venture agreementin September 2013 with the world’s first successfulcommercial producer of SAP, Sanyo Chemical Industries,to form SDP Global Co., Ltd., which would start tomanufacture SAP in Japan (at the Nagoya Plant andOgaki Plant) and in China (San-Dia Polymers [Nantong]Co., Ltd.). Continued population growth has increasedthe demand for disposable diapers in China and SoutheastAsia, so Toyota Tsusho decided to build a productionbase (SDP Global [Malaysia] Sdn. Bhd.) in Malaysia inaddition to Japan and China and started production therein 2018.By meeting this rapid growth in demand for SAP foruse in disposable diapers in China and other emergingcountries, SDP Global secured 12% of world marketshare and became ranked 4th in the world in the provisionof SAP.Australian silica sandFunding Chile’s iodine development and manufacturing companies142