Opening of Kumho plant in Europe is postponed

Implementation of Kumho Tire's plans to open its own plant in Europe seems to be postponed, as the company's management has made concessions to the union in South Korea regarding the transfer of production from Gwangju (where a major fire occurred in May this year) to Hampyeong, reports The Korea Times.

In April 2025, Kumho officially announced that it intends to build a new tire plant in Europe and is choosing a location for it. Romania, Serbia, Portugal, and Turkey were named as options, and the company said that localizing production — the other two largest Korean tire manufacturers, Hankook and Nexen, already produce tires in Europe — would help meet the growing demand in the regional market. However, after signing an agreement with the union, the project may be temporarily frozen.

Initially, Kumho wanted to produce up to 3 million tires per year at the new plant in Hampyeong, but the union demanded that the management guarantee production capacity of 6 million tires per year, as this would increase jobs. The complicated negotiations lasted several months, and as a result, a final agreement was signed, under which the enterprise will produce around 5.3 million units of products per year. In addition, Kumho undertook to resume production at one of the two sites in Gwangju (the most damaged by the fire has already been dismantled) with a daily capacity of 6,000 tires by the end of the year.

The Korea Times, citing industry participants, notes that the agreement with the union is likely to slow down the company's plans to open a new plant in Europe, as it will require significant investment.

"Kumho Tire needs to invest a very large amount of money in creating a new plant in Europe, but the problem is attracting the necessary capital at a time when the company needs to fulfill its promises to transfer production to Korea, which will also require at least 1 trillion won (about $720 million)," the publication cites its source in the industry.

Photo: Yonhap