SEOUL, KOREA - Hyundai Rotem will build a rolling stock manufacturing plant in Brazil by the end of next year. The Hyundai Group company said on November 18 in an event held in the Sao Paulo provincial government office that it would build a production plant in the city of Araraquara within the province with a capacity of 150 cars a year. The city is located 270 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital Sao Paulo.
The company will invest US$40 million in the plant. The 150,000-square-meter plant will be operational by early 2016. Once Hyundai Rotem completes the plant, it will have complied with the requirement imposed by the Brazilian government that it procure more than 60 percent of parts locally. It will also be eligible to bid for Brazilian railway projects for the next five years whose total order volume is estimated at 3,500 train cars.
Even before the groundbreaking of the plant, Hyundai Rotem has already won orders of 240 cars from Sao Paulo Metro Corp. and 112 cars from Salvador (Bahia) Subway Corp. The Brazilian location is the third overseas manufacturing base for Hyundai Rotem, following ones in the United States and Turkey. With the latest order as a momentum, the company will actively pursue business opportunities in Latin America including Panama, Peru, Chile, and Colombia.
Article provided by The Korea Economic Daily
