BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Motherson Group, India’s largest automobile partsconglomerate. The new company, located in the suburbsof Chennai, began producing high-performance plasticswith superior heat resistance that were highly sought afterfor automotive applications. Samvardhana MothersonNippisun Technology was established in response tothe increasing number of Japanese, European, andAmerican companies in the automotive and electronicsindustries moving into southern India and setting up localproduction facilities there. Unfortunately, however, thevolume of automobiles produced in India was far belowinitial targets, and with customers looking for lower-costmaterials production levels remained sluggish, leading tothe decision to withdraw from the business.Moving into Specialty Steel Product SecondaryProcessingLooking to make a full-scale entry into the specialtysteel product secondary processing business (pickling,heat treating, wire drawing, and drawing), Toyota Tsushopurchased 45% of the shares in Mirra & Mirra IndustriesPvt. Ltd. with 40% purchased by Toyota Tsusho IndiaPvt. Ltd. and the remaining 15% by Suzutoyo SeikoCo., Ltd. in September 2015 Mirra & Mirra was theonly independent company involved in the secondaryprocessing of automobile parts, such as automobile boltsand nuts, in India. It is located in Chennai, in the south ofIndia, a port city and is therefore conveniently positionedfor importing materials and exporting products. For thesereasons, Toyota Tsusho elected to invest in the companyand move into the specialty steel product secondaryprocessing business in India.Separating and Refining Rare Earth ResourcesIn December 2015, rare earth resource productioncompany Toyotsu Rare Earths India (TREI), establishedby Toyota Tsusho as a wholly owned subsidiary, signed atwo-year supply contract with Indian Rare Earths (IRE),a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Department ofAtomic Energy, to procure the mixed rare earth chloride,a raw material used to produce rare earth resources.TREI was established in 2009 to promote diversificationof rare earth resources and to enable a stable supply ofhigh-quality refined product. After lengthy negotiationswith both IRE, the supplier of the raw material monaziterequired for rare earth resource production, and theIndian government, TREI finally succeeded in concludinga supply contract. Supply of the raw materials beganin January 2016, and TREI commenced operations toseparate and refine rare earth resources.10 Business Development in AustraliaAcquisition of Interests in the Energy BusinessThe Camberwell Coal Mine in Australia, in whichToyota Tsusho held mining rights, was merged with theneighboring Glennies Creek Coal Mine in August 2006,leading to the launch of the Integra Coal Mine as a jointventure whose goal was to achieve synergies in cost.In the energy business, Australia is positioned as oneof the most important countries in the upstream gasvalue chain. In March 2010, Toyota Tsusho acquiredgas exploration and development rights for conventionaland unconventional liquefied natural gas (LNG) forthe Japanese market in several extraction areas inQueensland, including a coalbed methane reservoir andthe ATP651P reservoir in which Toyota Tsusho heldinterests.In March 2012, through its wholly owned subsidiaryToyota Tsusho Gas E&P Trefoil Pty Ltd. (TTGEPT),Toyota Tsusho acquired from AWE Ltd. a partial interestin a gas purification, production, and sales project offthe coast of Tasmania (the BassGas Project) and partialgas exploration and development rights in the adjacentreservoir. With these interests, Toyota Tsusho wasaiming to supply gas domestically within Australia andto potentially develop gas and crude oil. Toyota Tsushoalso signed a long-term sales contract to supply coalbedmethane gas (CBM)?the raw material of LNG?toMirra & Mirra IndustriesCamberwell in AustraliaHistory165