Kolon Industries building tyre cord plant in Vietnam

South Korea’s Kolon Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Vietnam’s Binh Duong province regarding the set-up of a tyre cord factory in the region. At the ceremony on 23 November, Kolon Industries also announced its entry into a land lease contract with Vietnamese investment and development corporation Becamex IDC, under which the Korean firm will lease a 42-hectare site in Becamex IDC’s Bau Bang Industrial Park.

According to South Korean and Vietnamese media sources, Kolon Industries will invest KRW 260 billion (£176.6 million) in the first stage of the factory project, in 2017 and 2018. The production facility is expected to enter operation with an initial production capacity of 36,000 tons a year, giving Kolon Industries a global annual tyre cord capacity of 113,000 tons. Further expansion planned for the site includes the addition of a plant for manufacturing airbags. Total investment will reportedly reach around US$1 billion over the coming decade.