Kuriyama Holdings began from a rubber wholesaling business founded by Yoshio Kuriyama in 1939. As the company grew, Ohji Rubber & Chemicals and Kuriyama Research & Development(KURIYAMA R&D Inc.) were established in Japan as a rubber manufacturer and research and development hub, respectively, helping to turn us into a comprehensive manufacturer and distributor of industrial-use rubber products. At the same time, we began expanding the scope of our business, entering into the overseas building materials and sports flooring export markets in the 1950s.
The scope of our business as a comprehensive manufacturer and distributor of industrial-use rubber products was expanded even further with the establishment of Kuriyama of America, Inc., in 1968. We have since grown to become one of the top industrial-use hose brands in North America.
Currently, throughout the Kuriyama Group, we are innovative trend-setters developing unique products in every area of business that we are involved. In Japan, we acquired Kuriyama supplier and urea quality sensor manufacturer SUN-A Corporation in 2015, which contributed to a greater presence among construction and agricultural machinery manufacturers as Kuriyama customers and facilitated the development of exhaust emissions regulations-compliant products. In 2015, we also acquired the TIPSA Group, which represents a top layflat hose product brand overseas, and secured manufacturing facilities in Spain and Argentina. Currently, we are focused on achieving maximum synergy with our industrial-use hose business in North America.
In 2024, we established a business subsidiary in Australia. We will aim for further global expansion by expanding sales of the brands handled by our North & Central America , Europe & South American businesses to the Oceanian market.
In the current business landscape facing our Group, while the impact of COVID-19 may have subsided and economic recovery is headed towards recovery, the outlook for the future is expected to remain uncertain due to such factors as expanding geopolitical risks and rapidly fluctuating exchange rates.
For us, helping the world overcome these circumstances represents a rare opportunity for Kuriyama Group to refashion itself as a sustainable corporate group, bringing together the Group's history and wisdom in pursuing a basic policy and business strategy, outlined below, to continue our growth and development into being a "100-year company."