Kumho plan for U.S. plant is back on track
A spokesperson for Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of South Korea-based Kumho Tire Co. Ltd., said the company has resumed its plan to open a production plant in the United States that had been suspended for six years.
In May 2008, Kumho broke ground in Bibb County, Ga., on a 5.7 million-square-foot facility that would cost $165 million and produce 2.1 million tires annually. The company went into a debt workout program in 2009 and postponed its plans for the plant.
Now the company has confirmed that a formal request for funds has been made to creditors, and it has asked its banks, including the Korea Development Bank (KDB), to approve a loan to build the plant; lenders held a meeting last week.
In 2009 the company reported operating losses of $117.3 million, which it managed to turn around into a profit in 2010 and has been generating operating profits each year since.
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