Chinese tire company Wanli to build $1B plant in SC

Dive Brief:

China-based Wanli Tire Corp. has announced that it will build a $1 billion manufacturing plant in Orangeburg County, SC, according to The State.
The South Carolina Department of Commerce has requested permission to borrow $40 million to build infrastructure around the site and prepare it for construction. The project will be built in two phases over eight years, and, when the factory is 100% complete, it will employ 1,200 people.
South Carolina is home to five other international tire manufacturers, which produce a total of 100,000 tires daily. The state also exports more tires than any other in the U.S.

Dive Insight:

The U.S. has seen an uptick in foreign manufacturing investment recently, and this often has a lot to do with positioning the finished product, whatever it may be, for future distribution.

Japanese heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment maker Daikin just announced a $417 million investment in a 4.2-million-square-foot Houston-area plant and surrounding development. That outlay has already attracted additional foreign investment nearby, as one of Daikin's Chinese suppliers, Broad-Ocean Motor Co., is building a 480,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution plant in the same area.

German gummy bear manufacturer Haribo also announced in March that it will build a $242 million, 500,000-square-foot gummy bear factory in Wisconsin. Just as South Carolina officials are offering up a financial incentive for Wanli, Wisconsin is sweetening the Haribo deal in exchange for the company's promise to invest in certain capital projects and provide job training, among other requirements.

Also in March, South Korea-based LG Electronics said that it would build a $250 million, 829,000-square-foot washing machine factory in Clarksville, TN. The facility will open in 2019, and the company will deliver infrastructure improvements around the factory, provide job training and hire U.S. veterans.

In February, LG started construction on a new $300 million, 350,000-square-foot headquarters complex in its current home of Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Officials said the project, which will have views of the Palisades cliff line along the Hudson River, will provide $26 billion in economic benefit for the region and will generate 2,000 construction jobs, as well as 1,000 permanent ones once the headquarters is complete in 2019. LG will also pursue LEED Gold certification.