Kumho to relocate, consolidate Nanjing plants

NANJING, China (Dec. 10, 2105) — Kumho Tire Co. Inc. is moving its passenger and truck tire plants in Nanjing to a site in the Nanjing Pukou Economic Development Zone, about 20 miles from the current plant location.

The move comes about four years after Kumho first disclosed it was in discussions with local officals about relocating its plants in Nanjing because of space issues.

Kumho broke ground at the Pukou site in January 2015 after finalizing a basic settlement with local goverments for compensation. It expects to begin moving production there in stages throughout 2016.

The South Korean tire maker did not disclose the scale of investment necessary to complete the moves. The Nanjing factories are rated at 15 million passenger car/light truck and 500,000 truck/bus radials. The plants employ roughly 4,000 workers.

Kumho said it is constructing a “state-of-the-art, eco-friendly” factory that will combine its separate passenger and truck tire factories into a single tire plant. This consolidation should make production more efficient.

The company said it expects to produce OE-quality tires at the new factory for supplying local vehicle makers.

Kumho opened its Nanjing car tire plant in 1994, making it the first Korean company to establish manufacturing in China. In 2008 it added the truck/bus radial tire plant and doubled the size of the car tire plant plant to 10 million units annually and in 2008.

Established in 1993, Nanjing Pukou Economic Development Zone is a provincial industrial zone in the Yangtze River Delta economic zone with a long-term planning area of 100 square kilometers.

Kumho has two other tire plants in China — in Tianjin and Changchun — along with a technical center in Tianjing.