Hankook Tire to suspend domestic plants amid virus fears

SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- Hankook Tire & Technology Co., the world's sixth-largest tiremaker by sales, said Friday it will suspend its domestic plants due to the new coronavirus outbreak.

The company's two domestic plants, in Daejeon, 164 kilometers south of Seoul, and Geumsan, 200 km south of the capital city, will stop operations for four days from Sunday through April 1 to keep inventories at manageable levels amid the spreading of COVID-19, the company said in a text message.

Hankook Tire also plans to suspend its plants in the U.S. state of Tennessee and in Hungary from March 30 through April 7.

"We are considering whether to suspend other plants, as more carmakers are expected to suspend their production facilities amid virus fears," the company said.

Last week, Hankook Tire's major clients Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. halted most of their plants in Europe to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in line with restrictions on movement and lockdowns in the region.

Hankook Tire has two domestic plants and six overseas plants -- one in the United States, one in Hungary, one in Indonesia and three in China -- whose combined capacity reaches 100 million units.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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