KT&G celebrates Turkish factory expansion in bid to heat up in African, American markets
Published: 20 Jan. 2025, 17:23
Updated: 20 Jan. 2025, 18:51
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- CHO YONG-JUN
- [email protected]
![Fourth from left, Korean Ambassador to Turkey Jung Yeon-doo, KT&G CEO Bang Kyung-man and Tire District Governor Vural Karagu pose during KT&G's Turkish factory expansion ceremony held Jan. 16. [KT&G]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/20/e00eb43d-a6b2-4287-9907-a998c5b5ad92.jpg)
Fourth from left, Korean Ambassador to Turkey Jung Yeon-doo, KT&G CEO Bang Kyung-man and Tire District Governor Vural Karagu pose during KT&G's Turkish factory expansion ceremony held Jan. 16. [KT&G]
KT&G, Korea's leading tobacco producer, expanded the production capacity of its factory in Turkey in a bid to bolster exports to North Africa and the Central and South American markets.
The company said on Monday that the expansion of the factory in Tire, Izmir, aims to produce up to 12 billion cigarettes per year by increasing the total floor area one and half times to 25,000 square meters (269,000 square feet).
The company started the expansion in April 2024, installing two sets of new cigarette manufacturing equipment, effectively doubling the production capacity.
The Turkish site is the tobacco company’s first overseas factory, which was established in 2008.
“Followed by the expansion, the Turkish factory will be the company’s overseas production hub, leading the global expansion of KT&G,” company CEO Bang Kyung-man said.
The completion ceremony was held at the factory on Thursday, with the KT&G CEO, Tire District Governor Vural Karagul, Korean Ambassador to Turkey Jung Yeon-doo, Tire Mayor Hayati Okuroglu and more in attendance.
The tobacco company recently established a subsidiary in Uzbekistan in January and started the construction of a manufacturing plant in Kazakhstan in 2023 to expand in the region.
“KT&G will be focusing on increasing our global business competitiveness through the investment in the company’s three key business areas" of heated tobacco products, foreign tobacco sales and health functional products, a press release said.
BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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