Sumitomo Metal to buy Standard Steel
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefOsaka, Japan-based Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. said Monday it has reached an agreement to buy Pittsburgh-based Standard Steel LLC, a maker of train wheels and axles, for roughly $340 million.
Sumitomo Metal Industries will acquire 90% of Standard Steel, with the remaining 10% held by Tokyo-based Sumitomo Corp.
Industry observers note the move is one way to quickly increase Sumitomo’s access to the U.S. market. It is also acknowledged as “the first step in our global expansion in the railway field,” according to Kiyotaka Nogi, senior managing executive officer in charge of Sumitomo Metal’s railway parts business.
“Standard Steel has a very broad customer base in the U.S.” 
Sumitomo Metal’s train wheel production has mostly targeted high-end needs, such as high speed rail parts, which “is expanding rapidly in the U.S.,” said Nogi. “By 2020, we expect to be supplying almost all the high-end train wheels in the U.S.”
The acquisition also will allow Sumitomo Metal Industries to pursue freight train and urban transit segments, Nogi added.
