PYONGTAEK, SOUTH KOREA — Injection molding press supplier Engel Vertriebgesellschaft mbH plans to buy land in South Korea to build a production plant, according to an agency in that country.
Engel agreed to buy nearly 9 acres of land in Pyongtaek, the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency said in a July 24 news release. KOTRA said the Engel facility will open next year and the company will invest $20 million in it during five years.
Engel officials were unavailable to comment on the project because their head office in Schwertberg, Austria, was closed for a two-week vacation. In March, Engel officials visited South Korea for negotiations and said then there was ``nothing official'' about the project.
Yongap News Agency of Korea reported in March that the new Engel facility will be able to make 800 machines annually. Yongap said Engel will sell the facility's output in South Korea and other Asian nations, including China, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
Engel recently opened branch offices in Singapore and India and has had a Hong Kong office for more than 10 years. One new customer in the region is Samsonite Corp., which will use Engel presses in joint venture plants in Ningbo, China, and Nashik, India.