Kumho opens NR processing plant in Vietnam

Bencat, Vietnam - Kumho Tire Co. Ltd. has opened a $4 million rubber processing plant in Bencat to help it source processed natural rubber for its tyre plants in South Korea and China.

“By setting up a rubber processing plant in Vietnam, Kumho Tires will be able to provide raw material for tyre manufacture not only in Vietnam, but also in Korea and the rest of the world,” said Kumho Tire CEO Sae-Chul Oh in a prepared statement. “The production of quality raw material will lead to an overall improvement in the quality of tyres that we manufacture also.”

Kumho marked the opening June 28 with a ceremony at the plant, in Binh Duong Province, with local dignitaries and Kumho executives present.

The plant covers about 8.5 hectares and has an production capacity of 11ktpa, enough to make 6 million tyres. Depending on its performance, Kumho plans to build more plants in the same location in the future, the company said.

Kumho also is building a $155 million tyre plant in Vietnam, near Ho Chi Minh City, due on stream in the first half of 2008.

Kumho anticipates that the new plant will aid in countering rises in the cost of raw materials required for tyre manufacture and help stabilise the price of its tyres as a result.

Natural rubber makes up as much as 25 percent of raw material used in tyre manufacturing, Kumho said. The recent rise in cost of natural rubber has cut into the profits of the tyre industry as a whole.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)