New Zealand

ITOCHU New Zealand (ITCNZ) began operations in 1967 as the second wholly owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Corporation in Oceania. Since its incorporation, ITCNZ has operated in many markets - from importing the famous “Nippon Clip-On” parts of the Auckland harbour bridge to exporting New Zealand wool and woodchips - based out of its offices in the heart of Auckland City. In addition to these past and present activities, ITCNZ always has one eye looking toward the horizon and keenly pursues any new opportunities which may arise.

ITCNZ currently operates its business in four key sectors - forestry, general merchandise, chemicals and produce.

Forestry

New Zealand is a country known to be able to sustainably grow softwood at the fastest rates on the planet, due to its unique mild climate. The New Zealand forestry industry has capitalized on this competitive advantage and has become one of the largest contributors to the domestic economy, with further growth expected.

ITCNZ is involved in several areas of this industry - exporting soft and hardwood chips to Japanese pulp and paper mills, logs to Japan and South East Asia and, most recently, medium density fibreboard through a new investment in New Zealand in 2009.

From February 2009, ITCNZ has been a 20% shareholder in the Daiken New Zealand MDF production facility, along with ITOCHU Corporation (29%) and Daiken Corporation (51%). The plant, now known as Daiken New Zealand, was the first to be constructed in the country, some 33 years ago, and since then has gone on to produce one of the most highly regarded brands of MDF in the world - Customwood. With an annual capacity of 200,000 cubic metres, Daiken New Zealand supplies many markets around the world including Japan, the USA and several countries in South East Asia.

Given that New Zealand is one of the highest users of MDF per capita in the world, the 20% shareholding of ITCNZ presents the exciting opportunity of domestically marketing Customwood. Aside from this, we are heavily investigating such opportunities as the provision of financial services and raw material procurement and are sure to have new areas of synergy business to develop in the near future.

General Merchandise

ITCNZ currently has limited involvement in the general merchandise area, with our main business being the import of tyres. Over the past several years, ITCNZ has been the sole importers of Falken high performance tyres in the country, selling them to both wholesalers and motorsport firms. This business is steady, with regular volumes being ordered on a monthly basis.

Chemical

ITCNZ has an increasing role to play in the importation of a range of chemicals and plastics to the New Zealand domestic market. This business field is huge and there are always new opportunities coming along which we meet with enthusiasm to see through to fruition. One especially interesting opportunity is the potential to import methanol from the MGC/ITOCHU joint venture plant in Brunei. The pre-marketing carried out by ITCNZ has revealed several promising customers who produce either biodiesel or resins.

The current cornerstone to the chemical business of ITCNZ is importing specialty chemicals from Japan and India to supply large domestic end uers. Aside from these, ITCNZ is looking to both expand upon existing relationships and build ties with new partners in other chemical areas ranging from engineering plastics to waxes.

Produce

In the minds of many, New Zealand is a country synonymous with the phrase “Clean and Green”. For this reason, fresh produce grown by the many farms, orchards and vegetable gardens around the country is regarded very highly around the world. ITCNZ has a long history of exporting this high quality produce around the world, whether this be fresh produce, fruits, fish or frozen vegetables.

The current staple items in the ITCNZ produce portfolio are New Zealand and Tongan squash, onions, lemons and avocados - all of which are sent to the Japanese market. We also started to become involved in apple exports to the enormous Indian market which has great potential.

ITCNZ has recently also begun importing sugar for domestic sweet manufacturers. This new business is exciting and has potential, while also highlighting the importance of constantly searching for new avenues of business. Looking forward, ITCNZ will continue to look to explore such avenues and expand on its existing produce business base.

Expansion

While the aforementioned areas are the current core of the business held by ITCNZ, we as a company are constantly looking to expand in any way we can. This may involve anything from keeping a finger on the pulse of the latest developments in the building industry to investigating the potential of solar energy as a power solution for New Zealand. As such, we welcome any new ideas from potential business partners and look forward to increasing both our business and our numbers through new ideas.