History of Sumitomo

The Sumitomo Group is said to be the world’s oldest business conglomerate, with a history extending for more than 400 years.

In the 17th century Sumitomo started copper refining in Osaka, in 1691 they started copper refining up until the 19th century when Sumitomo launches a new business in the Machinery, Coal, Chemical , Steel, Construction and forestry industries.

Since that time, through various corporation structure changes the company have continued to grow and dominate the construction markets worldwide when in 1958 they expanded into the Asphalt Paver market.

In 2002, Sumitomo purchased the asphalt finisher company Niigata Iron Works Co. Ltd. and began to demand a share of the asphalt paver production market. With its leading design and technology capabilities, Sumitomo have produced the world’s first freely extendable screed from 2.3m to 6.0m without the need for bolt-on extensions. This innovation can potentially reduce the working hours of a project by half.

Sumitomo’s President and CEO, Mikio Ide, states that the company ethos is to manufacture machines which increase profitability (especially through fuel economy), give greater performance in terms of power and speed and ensure operator safety and comfort.

Trying to always be a market leader, SUMITOMO excavator was the first construction machinery in Japan to win the “Energy Conservation Grand Award” for enhanced fuel efficiency.

Sumitomo look forward to working in partnership with Pavemac to supply the UK and Ireland markets with Sumitomo asphalt paver machines, support and parts to increase the profitability and performance of road construction projects in general.