Co-dependent growth: Production hikes in China and Korea will lift Hankook’s North American business

By: Mike Manges

Up to 60% of tires made at Hankook’s Jiaxing, China, plant are exported to North America.

What Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. does in South Korea and China over the next couple of years will influence the company’s growth in North America.

Hankook is boosting manufacturing capacity at factories in both countries in order to ensure more tires reach the United States and Canada.

During a recent meeting at Hankook global headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Hankook CEO and President Seung Hwa Suh said production increases are necessary because his company is selling every tire it produces.

Hankook is investing $225 million in its Geumsan, South Korea, plant in order to boost the passenger/light truck tire factory’s annual output by five million units. It currently builds 15.5 million tires per year.

Hankook also plans to increase manufacturing capacity at its Jiaxing, China, plant. Hankook’s Jiaxing and Jiangsu, China, plants can crank out 24.1 million tires annually at full capacity. The tiremaker’s plant in Daejon, South Korea, has a yearly capacity of 23.5 million units. Its fifth plant -- a new facility in Hungary -- began production six months ago.

“We are studying various parts of the world for our next production base,” said Suh when asked if Hankook has plans to build tires in the U.S.

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