Nexen to Construct $800 Million Plant in Czech Republic

Nexen Tire has confirmed it is investing $800 million in the construction of a new tire factory in the city of Nosovice, Czech Republic.

Tyres & Accessories understands that the factory will be on-stream by the end of 2017 and will initially manufacture some 6 million passenger car, van and SUV tires per year. The scale of the factory is described as covering some 660,000 square meters.

Nosovice itself is described as a village with a population of about 1,000. However, the population figure belies the fact that leading South Korean carmaker Hyundai built a 1.12 billion euro car plant there in 2006. This factory mainly produces the increasingly popular i30 model.

Earlier in March, local news reports emanating from Poland and the Czech Republic suggested that Nexen was backing away from links with a potential factory in the Czech Republic in favor of a potential Poland-based project. However, sources close to Nexen have now confirmed that the company has opted for Czech Republic location and the proximity of the neighboring Hyundai plant is unlikely to be a coincidence.