RÁCALMÁS, Hungary — Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. is investing $38 million at its tire factory in Rácalmás to improve storage capacity for both raw materials and finished tires.
The investment, which includes 355,000 square feet of warehousing space at the 14-year-old factory, is expected to "further improve raw-material supply, increase its security and make the process more efficient," Hankook said.
The project comprises two storage facilities, one spanning 140,000 square feet for raw materials such as chemicals, textile and steel wires, carbon black, silica and block rubber raw materials, and second spanning 215,000 square feet for tire storage.
According to Hankook, 88% percent of finished tires in Rácalmás are stored in the factory's on-site warehouse, while the remainder and "a significant proportion" of incoming raw materials are stored off-site.
The improvements, Hankook said, will enable the company to meet its storage needs in-house without the need for outsourced services as well as reduce transportation activities, which will help lower negative environmental impact of road transport operations.
Hankook opened the Rácalmás factory in August 2007 and has expanded capacity there a number of times to reach the current capacity of over 16 million units a year.
The factory is Hankook's primary site for OE tire supply to car makers such as BMW A.G., Ford Motor Co., Hyundai-Kia Motors, Mercedes-Benz A.G., Stellantis N.V. (Fiat, Opel, Peugeot) and Volkswagen Group (Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, VW).