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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Nexen Tire will invest $1.3 billion to build its first tire plant in the U.S. The goal is to operate as early as 2028.

Nexen Tire unveiled the plan in its "Management Goals and Mid- to Long-Term Investment Strategy for This Year" targeting analysts and institutional investors at securities firms on the 18th. There are currently eight states in the southeastern United States that are eligible for the plant construction, with investment amounting to about 1.7 trillion won. The site selection is scheduled to be completed in the second half of this year and will have the capacity to produce about 31,200 tires a day. The estimated operating time is 2028~2029.

Unlike its rivals Hankook Tire and Kumho Tire, Nexen Tire does not have a production plant in the U.S. It operates factories in Yangsan and Changnyeong in Korea, and in Qingdao, China, and the Czech Republic in Europe. According to this investment plan, it will have its first factory in the United States in the future. Nexen Tire explained, "We are simultaneously considering the possibility of operating the plant early through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and joint ventures (JV) depending on market conditions."

 

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