Hankook China Plant to Have 10M Unit Capacity

Plans for Hankook Tire to build a new factory in China were outlined on April 22; representatives of the South Korean manufacturer said the construction of a new facility there will aid Hankook’s efforts to consolidate its status as the leading international tyre manufacturer in China. The company also intends to increase its sales there by 15 per cent to US$1.21 billion this year.

“Expansion of production capacity is a must to increase our share in the fast-growing market,” Heo Ki-yeol, head of Hankook Tire China Headquarters, stated during a press conference in Shanghai a day earlier. “To meet the growing demand here, we started to equip one of our existing factories with additional facilities, and are now considering building a new one.”

Presently Hankook operates two factories in China, in Zhejiang Province and Jiangsu Province, and last year produced approximately 29 million tyres there, giving it a market share of around 20 per cent. Hankook states that year-on-year sales grew 40.6 per cent in China during 2009. Company officials say the new factory will have a ten million unit per annum capacity and will likely be located somewhere in the west of China. When it is operational, Hankook’s total annual production in China should reach 44 million units, equal to the company’s South Korea production levels.

Hankook also intends to expand its sales and distribution network within China, with plans afoot to increase the number of its T’ Station service outlets from 40 to 300 by 2015.