Kumho Tire eyes expansion of Vietnam plant

South Korea’s Kumho Tire plans to invest $305 million to expand its plant in Vietnam.

The expansion, when completed in the first quarter of 2023, is expected to nearly double the plant’s capacity to 9.3 million tires a year.

“After considering our plans to increase exports to North America and potential U.S. anti-dumping duties, we came to the conclusion that increasing the capacity of the Vietnamese plant would be the best solution,” a Kumho executive said.

The $200-million plant in the My Phuoc 3 Industrial Park in the southern province of Binh Duong was built in 2008 to manufacture passenger car and light truck radial tires and is the company’s only plant in Southeast Asia.

In January, China’s Jinyu Tire invested $320 million to expand its factory in the southern province of Tay Ninh.