Kumho Tire to invest $1.8 mn to bump up capacity at Georgia plant

[Photo provided by Kumho Tire Co.]

South Korea¡¯s second largest tire maker Kumho Tire Co. will invest $1.8 million to bolster tire production in Georgia, the United States, to meet the growing market demand, the company said Sunday.

According to the company on Sunday, its board recently gave a nod to the capex scheme for its factory in Macon, Georgia of the U.S. to raise its tire output by 500,000 units per year from current 4 million units.

Construction starts as early as next month.

Kumho Tire¡¯s expansion comes to meet orders for sport utility vehicle tires in the North American market. Industry observers see the move as a means to avoid spike in U.S. tariffs.

The U.S. Department of Commerce late last year delivered a preliminary ruling on tire imports to levy anti-dumping charges of 27.81 percent on Korea-made tires, more than doubling the 10.08 percent on Vietnam-made tires.

Kumho Tire in March announced another expansion plan for its Vietnamese plant currently running at capacity of 5.5 million motor tires to increase the output to 9.3 million units with 339.8 billion won ($304.9 million) investment.

Kumho Tire shares gained 3.5 percent to close Monday at 3,990 won in Seoul trading.

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