Hankook Tire to set up first plant in US to expand production

Hankook Tire, the world's seventh- largest tire maker by revenue, said Monday that it will set up its first manufacturing facility in the United States to expand production and become one of top-tier tire companies. A total of 800 million U.S. dollars will be invested to build its first factory in the U.S., which was expected to have an annual capacity of 11 million tires, the South Korean company said in a statement. The company planned to break ground on the new plant by the end of 2014 and begin operations in 2016. Upon the factory's completion, Hankook's annual production capacity will top the 100 million mark as it produces around 94 million units at its plants in South Korea, China, Indonesia and Hungary. "The new plant in the U.S. will further strengthen our well-balanced global production portfolio,"said Suh Seung-hwa, vice chairman and chief executive of Hankook Tire. The new plant will be located in the U.S. state of Tennessee, which is considered to be an ideal plant location due to an extensive transportation network such as rail, plane and interstate highway network.