Kolon Industries, an industrial materials producer of the Republic of Korea (RoK), on January 12 said it will expand its tire cord plant in Vietnam to increase exports from the Southeast Asian country, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Kolon Industries' tire cord plant in Vietnam. (Photo courtesy of the company)

The company will invest KRW68 billion (US$62 million) in its wholly-owned Kolon Industries Binh Duong Company Ltd. to help the Vietnamese subsidiary expand the plant by September next year.

Tire cords are used as reinforcing materials for tires, designed to keep tires in shape and to enhance durability.

Kolon Industries invested 140 billion KRW to build a 16,800 tonne-a-year tire cord plant in Vietnam in 2018. The planned investment for the expansion will bring the plant’s output capacity to 36,000 tonnes a year.

The company has three tire cord plants in the RoK, China and Vietnam, with their overall output capacity reaching 103,200 tonnes.