191.8 Billion Invested with Completion Target in First Half of 2026... Accelerating Global Market Expansion
Reducing Infrastructure and Export Costs... Raising Approximately 140 Billion Won through Bond Issuance
A new ramen export production base that will accelerate Nongshim's global growth is being established. Nongshim views securing production capacity as the key to continuous growth in the global market and is setting up an export factory in Busan.
On the 30th, Nongshim announced that it plans to begin construction in the first half of next year on the 'Noksan Export-Only Factory' in the Noksan National Industrial Complex, Gangseo-gu, Busan, which will have an annual production capacity of 500 million ramen units, and complete it by the first half of 2026. Starting from the second half of 2026, when the factory becomes fully operational, Nongshim's annual export ramen production volume will double to 1 billion units by combining the new factory with the existing Busan factory.
To continue its growth in the global market, Nongshim decided to establish an additional factory, judging that a fundamental expansion of production infrastructure is necessary. Earlier, after the regular shareholders' meeting in March, Nongshim Chairman Shin Dong-won told reporters, "We are considering building an export-only ramen factory on existing secured sites such as Pyeongtaek Poseung and Busan Noksan."
The Nongshim Noksan Export Factory will be built on the available land of the existing dried noodle production facility, the Noksan Factory. It will be constructed on a site of approximately 17,000㎡ (5,100 pyeong) with a total floor area of about 51,000㎡ (15,500 pyeong), aiming to start construction in the first half of 2025 and complete it by the first half of 2026. Nongshim will invest 191.8 billion KRW in the factory establishment.
Nongshim will initially install three ultra-high-speed, state-of-the-art production lines at the Noksan Export Factory and design it to expand up to eight lines in the future to quickly respond to increasing demand. Once completed, the Noksan Export Factory will provide a global supply capacity of approximately 2.7 billion units annually when combined with the existing U.S. subsidiary (about 1 billion units) and Chinese subsidiary (about 700 million units). Including domestic production, the total production capacity will reach 6 billion units. The export-only factory will be built by integrating Nongshim's AI smart factory know-how. It will feature a quality inspection system applying Nongshim's AI deep learning technology and a system that predicts and responds to possible breakdowns and accidents using big data.
Nongshim plans to use the establishment of the Noksan Export Factory as a stepping stone to more aggressively target the global market. Based on the production capacity of the export-only factory, it is considering establishing a sales corporation in Europe in early 2025 to expand the European market and plans to further expand into markets with growth potential such as South America, Africa, and Oceania.
The Nongshim Noksan Export Factory is expected to save construction costs and gain future synergies by sharing production infrastructure with the adjacent existing Noksan Factory. The two factories will share utility facilities and jointly procure raw materials, enabling economies of scale as production volume increases, thereby reducing various costs.
Additionally, Nongshim expects significant cost savings in export logistics by leveraging the geographical advantage of the Noksan Export Factory's proximity to Busan Port. A Nongshim official stated, "Busan Port is a representative Northeast Asian port with export routes to about 150 countries worldwide," and added, "Considering the global export efficiency and accessibility of Busan Port, we selected the Noksan National Industrial Complex as the site for the new factory."
Meanwhile, on the same day, Nongshim announced a 'decision to issue exchangeable bonds' to finance new facility investments related to overseas projects, including the Ulsan Samnam Logistics Complex announced in June and the Noksan Export Factory. The number of shares subject to exchange is 300,019 treasury shares, and Nongshim plans to raise approximately 140 billion KRW through this bond issuance.
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