Kobelco Logistics traces its roots to Marushin Shipping Co., Ltd., which was formed through the 1954 merger of Marutani Shipping Co., Ltd. and Kobe Steel’s marine shipping unit (part of the latter company’s materials division’s transportation section). In 1968, Marushin Shipping Co., Ltd. absorbed Amatetsu Shipping Co., Ltd. in a merger and took on the name Kobelco Shipping Co., Ltd. This company, in turn, was renamed Kobelco Logistics with its April 2000 absorption of Shinko Inland Transportation Co., Ltd. in a merger. The October 2002 acquisition of Shinko Kakogawa Stevedoring Co., Ltd., a handler of in-plant transportation, was the final step in creating the general logistics company we are today.

The logistics network we have built in Japan centers on three bases under direct management and encompasses 71 distribution warehouses, ensuring our ability to deliver products quickly and efficiently. Moreover, we provide services that strategically bring together land, sea and air transport modalities to meet customer needs when shipping overseas. Kobelco Logistics has a long history in transporting steel products, industrial machinery and construction machinery. And, our capabilities extend to special transportation orders, including for pressure reactors and other heavy cargo. With a solid track record in transportation, we strive to offer our customers optimal logistic services that meet their every need.

By bringing together time-tested techniques and outstanding personnel and leveraging logistics know-how across departments, Kobelco Logistics is continually raising the quality of transportation, with its catchphrase of Treating Logistics as a Science. For example, automotive wire rods when stacked will roll with the motion of the ship and easily sustain damage. To analyze the problem, we installed cameras inside a ship’s hold and monitored the effect of the vessel’s motion on the cargo. Working with university research labs, we were able to improve the methods used to bundle and package wire rods. We have now gained the firm trust of customers that Kobelco wire rods sustain no damage from transportation.

In 2006, we began expanding overseas in conjunction with the Kobelco Group's commencement of local production in China and India and now operate local subsidiaries in both countries. Junior employees are dispatched overseas to help ensure the smooth running of both local and international transport operations. At present, we are looking forward to participation in a project set up by Kobe Steel’s joint venture with Thailand’s Millcon Steel Public Company Limited to manufacture special steel wire rod in Thailand beginning in May 2017. We will handle the transportation of billets while aiming to expand into new areas, including warehouse management.

At Kobelco Logistics, we are developing human resources that can take care of global business and working to expand our scope of business.