The Straits Trading Company Limited is a
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
-based corporation with operations in Singapore and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, as well as various localities in Asia and Australia.
Founded in 1887, the company was the result of a partnership for
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
smelting
Smelting is a process of applying heat to ore, to extract a base metal. It is a form of extractive metallurgy. It is used to extract many metals from their ores, including silver, iron, copper, and other base metals. Smelting uses heat and a ch ...
between
James Sword
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
, a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
businessman, and
Herman Muhlinghaus, a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
entrepreneur; the Straits Trading Company was later incorporated in Singapore on 8 November 1887 with a hefty capital of S$150,000 during its days. The company eventually rose to become one of the largest tin smelters in the world, operating at tin rich deposits in the
Kinta Valley
The Kinta Valley is a conurbation in central Perak, Malaysia, surrounding and including the state capital Ipoh. Historically the Kinta Valley was very rich in tin, and their mines have been among the most productive in the world.
The valley is form ...
and
Klang Valley
Klang Valley ( ms, Lembah Klang; zh, 巴生谷; ) is an urban conglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and includes its adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is con ...
of then
British Malaya
The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...
(
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...
).

By the late-20th century, the company began diversifying into hotel and
property management, and financial investment; it also became a member of the
Tecity Group. Mining and smelting operations that the Straits Trading Company was originally engaged in were eventually carried out by its 73%-owned subsidiary, the Malaysia Smelting Corporation Berhad (), a public listed company on
Bursa Malaysia
Bursa Malaysia is the stock exchange of Malaysia. It is one of the largest bourses in ASEAN. It is based in Kuala Lumpur and was previously known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). It provides a full integration of transactions, offeri ...
.
See also
*
Walter Nutt, Managing Director of Straits Trading Company (1918-1921)
External links
Official Straits Trading Company websiteOfficial Malaysia Smelting Corporation website
1887 establishments in Singapore
Real estate companies of Singapore
Service companies of Singapore
Smelting
Metal companies of Singapore
Singaporean brands
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