As part of a plan to produce 100 million tires worldwide annually by 2014, Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. held a groundbreaking ceremony for its seventh plant in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia. The move is intended to increase production in North America, the Middle East and Asia.
The investment will include four major production facilities. For the first phase of the project, Hankook Tire will invest $353 million with an initial production capacity of 6 million tires per year. The company will also employ 1,400 workers by 2014 and expects to add additional 2,800 jobs by 2018.
“The new plant will be an important opportunity in raising our global status,” says Hankook Tire’s Vice Chairman and global CEO Seung Hwa Suh. “The decision to establish the plant in Indonesia, which is in the center of the global market, will be a benefit both the Indonesian economy and Hankook Tire.”
Hankook Tire’s strategic investment in Indonesia is a part of its commitment to produce 100 million tires annually by 2014 as a mid-term business goal. The company also plans to accommodate the global growing demand for its high quality tires.
The company also continues to invest on the European continent as well. Hankook’s modern Hungarian plant will finish its second expansion phase soon, when it will be able to produce 12 million tires a year for the European market. The company also has two factories in Korea, two in China with a third Chinese factory already under construction (see Hankook breaks ground in China on sixth plant).
