Hankook Tire Co. confirmed that it is building a new $353 million tire plant in Indonesia, and that half of the plant's capacity will be dedicated to North America.
But it will take some time.
The plant is set for Bekasi, Indonesia, near Jakarta. Hankook said the groundbreaking won't be held until the third quarter of this year, with the plant operational by September 2014. Hankook said the plant would produce both consumer and commercial tires.
“The addition of a plant in Indonesia will directly benefit the U.S. market,” said Soo Il Lee, president of Hankook Tire America Corp. “Committing approximately 50% of the plant’s expected capacity for passenger and light truck tires for North America will help us further meet the growing demand for our high-quality products in the U.S. and Canada.”
“Hankook Tire continues its efforts to develop new growth engines through an aggressive approach in raising investment efficiency and productivity,” said Seung Hwa Suh, vice chairman and CEO. “We are glad to respond to our fast-growing reputation for quality around the globe by mobilizing our investment resources to build large-scale and top-notch production facilities.”
In November 2010, Hankook announced an expansion to its Hungary factory and plans to build a new plant in southwest China that will be completed by the end of 2015.