S.Korea’s Hyosung to expand tire cord business to India

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Hyosung Group, a South Korean textile-to-chemicals conglomerate, plans to expand its tire cord business to India, the world's fast-growing third-largest automobile market, its vice chairman said on Wednesday.

“We aim to expand global production bases for tire cords, the group’s flagship product, to India from China and Vietnam,” Hyosung Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang told The Korea Economic Daily on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We will develop India as a core tire cord manufacturing base.”

Tire cords reinforce materials for tires, keeping them in shape and enhancing their durability.

The target came as India, the world’s most populous country, overtook the global No. 3 car market position from Japan in 2022, following China and the US.

Hyosung Group has been paying attention to the South Asian country as a next-generation key market for tire cords, Cho said.

“We plan to significantly increase tire cord production facilities in India with strong growth potential as a base for global market expansion,” he said.

Hyosung Advanced Materials Corp., the group’s tire cord manufacturer, is the global leader in the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) tire cord sector with a market share of 50%.

INVESTMENT REQUESTS

Governments and companies in emerging Asian countries asked Hyosung Group to invest in building factories for tire cords, spandex and polypropylene – the conglomerate’s core products, Cho said. Hyosung TNC Corp. manufactures spandex, a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity, while Hyosung Chemical Corp. is a major polypropylene producer.

Cho said bio textiles, along with tire cords, are expected to lead the group’s future.

“It is important to change raw materials for various textiles, including spandex, to eco-friendly ingredients,” Cho said. “We plan to increase investment to develop eco-friendly, bio textiles.”

Hyosung TNC's Creora brand, which extracts elastic fiber from corn and accounts for more than 30% of the global spandex market, won an eco-friendly certificate from the US Department of Agriculture to launch the world’s first bio-based spandex products.

The company also introduced fibers based on technology that extracts and recycles useful materials from discarded PET bottles.

Cho expressed confidence despite escalating competition with Chinese companies in the global spandex market as the group aims to expand its market share worldwide, especially in Asia.

“It is hard to find an industry without Chinese competitors,” Cho said. “Competition in the spandex sector has just started intensifying.”

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at kkm1026@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.