Sumitomo Mitsui to open bank branch in Perth

Expansion into Western Australia driven by need to support Japanese firms.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation follows other Japanese lenders that have established a presence in Western Australia. The branch will open in May and will be SMBC’s second in Australia.

SMBC, the second largest Japanese bank, is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.

Japanese companies are among the biggest buyers of Australian resources like coal and iron ore, and several have also invested directly in Australian mines and gas-export terminals.

Western Australia’s Pilbara region accounts for more than 40% of the world’s trade in iron ore by sea, while international energy companies are spending billions of dollars to build facilities that can ship LNG to Asia. Among the latter is the Gorgon LNG project that has several Japanese investors.