BookTitleToyota Tsusho 70-Year History

Summary

Toyota Tsusho 70-Year History

KB-type sock rubber knitting machine and KAtypesock rubber knitting machineSaitama, the company soon was selling them to companies such as KawashimaBoshoku, Hirata Boseki, and Hayashi Boseki in Gifu-shi.However, even the high-performing textile machinery fell on hard timeswhen the special procurement economy came to an end. Due to delays in thestreamlining of equipment and continued strong fluctuations in the price oftextile products, the market for cotton thread also collapsed, along with thoseof sugar and paper, and orders for textile products, which had been selling well,were canceled one after the other. More and more accounts receivable becamenoncollectible, and Nisshin Tsusho was forced to downsize its textile-relatedbusiness.In contrast, in November 1950 the Cotton Department was established, withexperienced import staff brought in from Toyo Menka (later Tomen Corp.,which merged with Toyota Tsusho in 2006) to strengthen Nisshin Tsusho’scotton imports. The new department’s aim was to expand sales to the spinningcompanies that were customers of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (currently,Toyota Industries). This was the beginning of Nisshin Tsusho’s import business.But after the abolition of the quota system for raw cotton in April 1961 and theliberalization of cotton imports, import companies became known for speculativeimports and cheap sales. In 1962, the personnel numbers of Toyoda Tsusho’sCotton Department were reduced, and it was reorganized into the Textile RawMaterials Section.Textile machinery export borrowing application5 Entry into the Steel and General Merchandise FieldsNisshin Tsusho attempted to enter the steel field. There was, however, adesignated wholesaler system is place, and it was nearly impossible for a tradingcompany that was not a designated wholesaler, such as Nisshin Tsusho, to becomea wholesaler for major steel manufacturers. Nisshin Tsusho therefore negotiatedwith Toyota Motor Co., Ltd., and Aichi Steel Corp. and ultimately succeeded intaking over the direct sales of steel from Aichi Steel. In 1950 to be exact, NisshinTsusho became a designated wholesaler for Aichi Steel, and as a result establishedits Machinery Department Hardware Section. The following year, that entitybecame fully operational as the General Merchandise Hardware DepartmentHardware Section and began working in the steel business.In addition to general merchandise produced by Nippondenso (currently DensoCorp.), such as electric stoves, irons, and radios, the newly renamed departmentand section also handled audiovisual projectors for educational use at schools.To help sell these products, Toyota car dealers in Oita, Miyazaki, Okayama, Mie,Niigata, and Matsuyama were encouraged to form trading departments and salesroutes. As the sales of automobiles grew, these trading departments naturallyfaded into the background, but they had led the way in developing a unique salesnetwork for Nisshin Tsusho’s and, later, Toyota Tsusho business operations.Meiko Trans coal storage6 Beginning of Fuel SalesAs fuel trade regulations were removed in September 1949, Nisshin Tsushoestablished its Coal Department and coal, coke, and oil. Nisshin Tsusho alsoconcluded coal special agent contracts with Mitsubishi Mining Co. (currentlyMitsubishi Materials Corp.), Meiji Mining (dissolved in 1969); and Yubetsu CoalMine Railway (closed in 1970) and sold the product therefrom chiefly to Toyota54