Chemicals, Forest Products & General Merchandise Company

Affluence and the Environment: Seeking Tangents of a High Order

The Chemicals, Forest Products & General Merchandise Company comprises two divisions: the Forest Products & General Merchandise Division, which supplies an extensive lineup of industrial materials and consumer goods, including building materials, pulp, paper, rubber, tires, ceramics materials and footwear; and the Chemicals Division, which carries basic chemicals, synthetic resins, synthetic fiber raw materials, electronic materials, and pharmaceuticals.
As the sphere of operations expands, we focus on originality by developing comprehensive, global businesses for a broad range of customers, from industry to the general consumer. The pursuit of a high order of synergy has also been positioned as a key strategy given cooperation between the two divisions.

Business Fields

Forest Products & General Merchandise: Logs, Lumber, Wood fiberboard, Imported building materials, Wooden building materials, Wood chips, Wood pulp, Recycled paper, Cotton linter, Paper, Paperboard, Paper products, Natural rubber, Tires, Footwear, Furniture, Glass, Cement, Slag, Landscape materials, Refractory materials and products, Natural gypsum, Biomass fuels (chips, pellets) etc.

Chemicals: Basic chemicals, Aromatics, Raw materials for synthetic fibers, Organic chemicals, Agricultural chemicals, Methanol, Ethanol, Solvents, Specialty chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Inorganic chemicals, Chemical fertilizers, Raw materials for synthetic resins, Vinyl chloride, Synthetic rubbers, Electronic materials, Thermoplastic and thermosetting resins, Resin additives, Packing materials, etc.

The Growth Strategies of the Chemicals, Forest Products & General Merchandise Company

Strategy

The Growth Strategies of the Chemicals, Forest Products & General Merchandise Company Forest Products & General Merchandise Division:
This division’s basic strategy is “niche, low-tech, and dominant.” Aiming to expand businesses that contribute to the environment, the division will expand its investment in upstream areas, such as the plantation-based production of materials for papermaking (pulp and wood chips) and the production of natural rubber. In addition, in midstream and downstream areas, the division will expand its investment in distributors, based on such areas as tires, building materials, and paper.

Chemicals Division:
Based on world-wide trading operations in the areas of organic chemicals, plastics, and inorganic chemicals, the division will advance projects in upstream areas to secure competitive resources. At the same time, in downstream areas the division will take steps to expand its business to bolster its supply chains, especially in the retail, plastics processing, and electronic materials areas.

Related News

Dec. 14, 2011: ITOCHU Announces Involvement in Joint Development and Commercialization of Hard Carbon for Lithium-ion Secondary Batteries
Oct. 12, 2011: ITOCHU Announces Purchase of Kyoei Denki Ltd.
Sep. 28, 2011: ITOCHU Announces Participation in the Production of High-purity Lithium Carbonate for Lithium-Ion Batteries in the United States
Jun. 10, 2011: ITOCHU Announces the Establishment of a Manufacturing and Sales Business of Trailers in China
Jun. 10, 2011: ITOCHU Announces Establishment of Joint Venture for Manufacture and Sale of Materials for Lithium-Ion Battery and Scheduled Start of Operations

Main Project

Celulose Nipo-Brasileira S.A.: We produce eco-friendly pulp from the vast forest resources in Brazil.

PrimeSource Building Products, Inc.: The largest distributor of screws and nails in the United States

Stapleton's Tire Services Ltd.: A tire wholesale and retail business providing the highest level of services in the United Kingdom

Brunei Methanol Company Sdn. Bhd.: We set up an enterprise for producing and selling methanol in collaboration with Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals and Brunei national government organization.
The enterprise is currently selling products mainly to Asian markets.

Ningbo Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd.: This company manufactures and sells PTA (purified terephthalic acid), Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and the CITIC Group jointly established it in Ningbo, China.
In the synthetic fiber raw materials area, the ITOCHU Group has been involved in sales for China's market for more than 20 years and as a trading company handles the largest volume of PTA for this market.

Simbol Mining Corp.: Aiming to secure lithium resources, for which demand is likely to grow rapidly as electric cars and hybrid vehicles become popular, we took a stake in U.S. resource development company Simbol Mining Corp.