Marubeni

Marubeni Corporation (丸紅株式会社, Marubeni Kabushiki-gaisha) (TYO: 8002, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a sōgō shōsha (general trading company) headquartered in Ōtemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Marubeni is the fifth-largest sogo shosha and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a strong electrical and industrial plant business.

Marubeni is a member of the Mizuho keiretsu.

History

Marubeni was established in 1918 as Itochu Shoten, Ltd. in a spin-off of certain sales divisions of C. Itoh & Co. (Itochu) into a separate entity. Itochu Shoten merged with Itoh Chobei Shoten in 1921 to form Marubeni Shoten, Ltd. under the leadership of Chobei Itoh IX. Marubeni started out as a textile trading firm and expanded to trade in other consumer and industrial goods during the 1920s.

Marubeni was re-combined with Itochu during World War II to form Sanko Kabushiki Kaisha Ltd. (1941–44) and Daiken Company, Ltd. (1944–48). This conglomerate was dismantled in the wake of the war and Marubeni again emerged as a separate trading company in 1949. Post-war Marubeni was predominantly a textile trading firm at its outset, but diversified into machinery, metals and chemicals, with textiles barely forming a majority of its business by the end of the decade.