March 10, 2021Sojitz Corporation
Sojitz Group Acquires a 100% Ownership Interestin a Railcar Leasing Company in North America–Contributing to the Realization of a Decarbonized Society via the Rail Industry inwhich Sojitz has over 60 Years of Experience–Sojitz Corporation (“Sojitz”) has acquired a 100% ownership interest in Southwest
Rail Industries Inc. (“SRI”) through Sojitz Corporation of America, a fully-owned
subsidiary of Sojitz. SRI is a U.S. company that operates a railcar leasing business*¹
headquartered in Texas.
SRI was founded in 1998 from the spin-off of a rail leasing company founded by Bob
Huette in 1981. SRI leases and manages over 4000 railcars, which mainly consist oftank cars and covered hopper cars. The railcar leasing company’s strength lies in its
ability to provide lessees with quality customer service, quick answers and the ability
to tailor leases to fit customer’s needs. SRI also has extended services to manage owner
operator rail assets and broker excess equipment with our existing customer base.
SRI’s railcars transport a variety of ladings such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG),
asphalt, solvents, lube oils, fine chemicals, fertilizers and minerals. SRI has
successfully established its customer base throughout the United States and Canadaand continues to grow new customer relations every year.

[SRI Tank Car]In North America, one of the world’s largest freight rail markets, rail-basedtransportation has been essential to both the economy and society, with railtransportation reaching up to 43% of all freight transportation in the U.S.* ²
Consequently, rail freight volumes have remained stable even during the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic.
Freight rail is well ahead of other modes of transportation in limiting greenhousegas emissions, with roughly one-eleventh of the carbon footprint (g-CO2 per tonkilometer) of trucks. Freight rail transportation is one vehicle that can contribute to
the realization of a decarbonized society, and freight rail industries and railcar leasing
sector are therefore expected to expand with continued mid-to long-term growth.
Sojitz Group has over 60 years of experience in the rail industry. In the North
American market Sojitz Group aims to focus on rolling stock services and has recently
demonstrated this by acquiring 100% ownership interest in Canada’s Cad Railway
Industries Limited (“CadRI”) in March 2020. CadRI provides MRO*³ services for
freight cars, passenger cars, and locomotives across North America. SRI will become

Sojitz’s third regional hub in North America, alongside CadRI’s two major facilities inEastern and Western Canada—CadRI headquarters in Montreal and Caltrax* ⁴headquarters in Calgary.
Sojitz Group will deliver value-added services to customers through MRO and railcar
leasing services and seeks further growth opportunities for SRI through Sojitz Group’smarkets and customer networks across various industry segments. SRI will continue
to increase its presence in the rail car leasing market by growing the existing tank andhopper car fleet as well acquiring additional railcar types to service other industries.
Sojitz Group aims to further expand its railway service business in North America
and contribute to the realization of a decarbonized and sustainable society.
*1 Railcar leasing: A business to lease freight railcars to cargo owners, shippers, or freight railroad operators(lessees)*2 Source: United States 2017 Economic Census: Transportation(https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2017/econ/ec17tcf-us.pdf)*3 MRO: Maintenance, Qualification, Repair and Overhaul / Remanufacturing / Retrofit services for railcars*4 Caltrax Inc.: A Canadian freight car MRO company located in Calgary, Alberta. After Sojitz acquired stake in
CadRI (in 2015), CadRI went on acquire Caltrax in 2017.

[Related Information][Company Overview – Southwest Rail Industries Inc.]
Established

1998

Headquarters

Weimar, Texas, United States

Main Business

Railcar leasing and management services to customers mainly
in chemical, oil & gas, and agricultural sectors. Main freightcargo includes LPG, asphalt, chemicals, and fertilizers.

Websitehttp://www.southwestrail.com/[Related Release]“Sojitz Group and JOIN Have Acquired a 100% Ownership Interest in a Rail MRO
Company in North America”
https://www.sojitz.com/en/news/2020/04/20200410.php[For questions regarding this press release, contact:]
Sojitz Corporation

Public Relations Dept.

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