Japanese trading house Sumitomo has invested in a major Vietnamese port operator, aiming to seize growing demand for logistics services as manufacturers shift production to the Southeast Asian country amid the yearlong US-China trade war.
Sumitomo teamed up with compatriot logistics company Suzuyo and a Japanese public-private fund specialising in infrastructure investment to take a 10 per cent interest in Ho Chi Minh-based Gemadept. The trading house provided more than half of the roughly 4bn yen ($37m) the team paid to a local fund for the stake.
With demand for container shipments growing seven per cent annually in Vietnam, Sumitomo plans to build a logistics network connecting plants to ports for seamless export of locally produced goods. Sumitomo is among the growing ranks of companies eager to cash in on the production shift away from China triggered by the trade war.