About Company | Target & Direction - Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd.

Sumitomo Metals is aiming at longstanding sustained growth of corporate value. By accelerating distinctiveness and adding strength to strength, we will realize growth that balances quality and scale.

Longstanding sustained growth. Why is it important?
Growth with balanced quality and scale. What does it mean?
"Accelerating distinctiveness" and "adding strength to strength." What do they suggest?

Longstanding sustained growth is our goal.

"Long-term" in the steel business means the next 10 and 20 years, or even the next 50 years. This makes us distinctive from many other industries. Let us give an example. The No.4 blast furnace in the Wakayama Steel Works was blown-out in July 2009. This facility began operation (initial blowing-in) in 1967 but ended its product life after more than 40 years of operation. As such, steelmaking facilities operate for a long time. Consequently, its management must take a long-term perspective.

A long-term perspective is also needed for product development. Properties of steel as an element cannot be ignored in developing steelmaking technologies. In addition, practical testing and proof for dependability are critical. Consequently, it takes many decades to establish technologies for new products. In basic industrial materials such as steel, we tackle research and technology development with such a timeframe. Many creep tests to study properties of high-temperature strength of boiler tubes used in power plants have been performed for over 10 years, fostering seeds of world-leading technologies. Once a new plant enters operation, it still takes a long time to refine the skills of personnel as a team on the ground. Engineers with the required capabilities are not made overnight. Accordingly, if Sumitomo Metals’ businesses are to succeed, management based on a long-term perspective is absolutely essential.

Sumitomo Metals has remained dedicated to its businesses that are endowed with Sumitomo’s business spirit, which has been refined for 400 years, as well as Sumitomo Metals’ history and tradition of manufacturing, which has continued for more than 100 years. We are determined to continue manufacturing based on the same long-term viewpoint.

We are aiming at maximization of corporate value with an emphasis on balance between quality and scale.

Sumitomo Metals emphasizes quality. Becoming larger is a necessary means, but it is not our goal. We value productivity more than production volume, the creation of value more than sales, and customers that nominate Sumitomo Metals more than the number of customers. We focus on gaining our market share by increasing customers who value our principles and dedication to longstanding relationships of trust. This is our way of improving quality.

We are aiming for a sustained growth by promoting strategies to "accelerate distinctiveness" and "add strength to strength."

Among steel products, there are fields where it is easy to achieve distinctiveness and fields where it is difficult to do so. Our sales weightings for related products, in which we can achieve distinctiveness such as steel pipes and steel products for railways, has risen. We are concentrating our management resources in these fields – adding strength to strength.

Sumitomo Metals has competitive products that are underpinned by high levels of technology. They include seamless pipes as well as railway wheels of which our domestic share is 100%. By accelerating distinctiveness and enhancing our strong areas, we strive to introduce distinctive products that can prevail under any circumstances.