| Type | Public KK |
|---|---|
| Traded as | TYO: 8001 OSE: 8001 NSE: 8001 FSE: 8001 SSE: 8001 |
| Industry | Conglomerate (Sogo shosha) |
| Founded | 1858 (as private company) 1949 (division) |
| Headquarters | Umeda Sanchome, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan Kita-Aoyama Nichome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Eizo Kobayashi (Chairman) Masahiro Okafuji (President and CEO) |
| Revenue | ¥ 11,392,589 million JPY (FY 2010) |
| Net income | ¥ 160,975 million JPY (FY 2010) |
| Employees | 62,635 (2011) |
| Website | www.itochu.co.jp/en/ |
Itochu Corporation (伊藤忠商事株式会社 Itōchū Shōji Kabushiki-gaisha), until 1992 "C. Itoh" in English, is a Japanese general trading concern based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It has a common origin with Marubeni Corporation. Itochu is a Fortune 500 company.
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Initially founded as a kimono retail store in 1858 by Chūbei Itō, C. Itoh & Co. Ltd., gradually evolved from pure buying and selling to manufacturing, supplying, exporting, and investments. After various mergers and acquisitions, it was incorporated in 1918 and again in 1949.
From the early 1970s C. Itoh & Co., was a major supplier of synthetic yarn (polyester) to India's Reliance Industries Limited[1]. Over the years, the close collaboration between both companies culminated in the co-promotion of a world-scale Polypropylene Project with a capacity of 2,50,000 TPA at a total project cost of Rs. 525 Crores, at Hazira in the State of Gujarat. With a $50 million for a 15 percent stake[1], it was at that point, the largest investment in India by a Japanese firm.[2]
On October 1, 1992, C. Itoh & Co. Ltd. changed its name to Itochu Corporation which is a direct transliteration of its Japanese name.[2]
Itochu now ranks as one of the largest sōgō shōsha companies in Japan and among the world's largest companies. The Itochu Group with the Itochu Corporation at its center has more than 700 subsidiaries.[3]
Itochu currently has seven Division Companies operating:
Itochu has partnered with Mazda and EnerDel to produce a solar-charged Mazda2.