On June 7 South Korean industrial giant Hyosung Corp. revealed its plans to build a new £80 million tyre cord facility in Vietnam by 2010 as part of its drive to expand global production. The plant will be located in Dong Nai province, near Ho Chi Minh City, and will eventually produce 53,000 tons of tyre cord annually, much of which will be destined for export to Europe, South America and other parts of Asia.
Kumho Tires Co. has begun construction on a tyre plant in Vietnam in a bid to corner the fast-growing Southeast Asian market. The company said it would invest US$155 million into the new plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s economic hub, by early 2008. Kumho plans to increase its annual output by 3.15 million units through the investment. The company currently has a total global production capacity of 51 million units.
It seems that the announcement by Kumho that it is to spend US$155 million on building a factory at Binh Duong in Vietnam (30th April) is only part of the whole story.
(Akron/Tire Review) Confirming earlier reports, South Korea’s Kumho Tire Co. has announced that it will build a new $155 million tyre plant in Vietnam. According to the Korea Times, the new plant will come on-stream in 2008 with an annual capacity of 3.2 million tyres. Kumho signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s state-run builder Becamex in Binh Duong province to establish the wholly owned plant there. Construction on a 314,000-square-meter site just north of Ho Chi Minh City will begin in the second half of this year.
The Kumho Group plans to build a $100 million automobile tyre plant in Ho Chi Minh, the local Thanhnien news source has reported. Nguyen Huu Tin, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said the city had approved the project in principle and suggested a 30 hectare site in Cu Chi District. The plant, which will employ the latest technologies, will make products for both the domestic market and exports to neighbouring countries.
(Akron/Tire Review) Vietnamese newspaper Thanh Nien News has reported that Vietnam’s Southern Rubber Industry Co has completed a contract to supply 100,000 to 120,000 light truck tyres a year to Continental AG. In July, Southern Rubber Industry, also known as Casumina, completed a previous deal with Continental to supply 300,000 motorbike and scooter tyres a year.
The Vietnamese Government has taken steps to protect its domestic rubber industry by imposing an import tax on car tyres and tubes of 30 per cent and a 50 per cent tax on motorbike and bicycle tyres and tubes. These will fall to five per cent by 2006, as a condition of Vietnam’s entry into AFTA; the ASEAN Free Trade Area.
Vietnam’s rubber producers have called for a limit on exports of crude rubber. Exports to countries such as China have increased to the stage where the domestic rubber processing industry is facing a shortage of raw materials.
The price of rubber, at US$0.54, is the lowest for 30 years. Tyre producers, who buy two-thirds of rubber production, are being very cautious in view of the falling demand for cars in the large industrial countries. Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia want to keep prices high through a cartel but to date have not been very successful. Competitors Vietnam and Cambodia are increasing production, which has kept prices low. The rubber producers are pinning their hopes on China which – if it joins the World Trade Organisation – will import more rubber.
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