$220M Tire Cord Deal
Kolon Industries Inc., a South Korean industrial company, will build an automobile tire cord factory in Vietnam to further expand its vehicle material business around the world.
The company announced on November 24 that it has decided to invest 260 billion won (US$220.15 million) to establish a polyester (PET) tire cord factory with an annual production capacity of 36,000 tons in Bau Bang Industrial Park in the Binh Duong Province, Vietnam.
Kolon Industries CEO Park Dong-Moon met with Tran Van Nam, president of the People`s Committee for Binh Duong Province, and Tran ThanhLiem, chair of Binh Duong Province, and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the investment project of the tire cord production facility at the provincial office building on the 23rd. Park was guaranteed active support and cooperation from the Vietnamese government at the MOU ceremony with KolonGroup Chairman Lee Woong-ryeol in attendance.
Kolon Industries said it will complete an integrated production line there spanning from fiber spinning and weaving to heat treatment to finished good production ahead of commercial production in the second half of 2018. The company is currently producing 77,000 tons of tire cords annually from its Korean and Chinese factories. Upon the completion of the Vietnamese factory, the company’s total production capacity will reach 113,000 tons a year.