Kolon Industries President Heo Seong speaks at the completion ceremony for the PU synthetic leather factory. [Kolon Industries]
Kolon Industries President Heo Seong speaks at the completion ceremony for the PU synthetic leather factory. [Kolon Industries]

Kolon Industries held a completion ceremony Tuesday for a new polyurethane (PU) synthetic leather production line at its Gimcheon Plant 1 in North Gyeongsang Province.

The company invested about 24 billion won ($16.4 million) to build the production line over roughly 17 months, from February last year through last month. PU synthetic leather replicates the texture and feel of genuine leather while offering superior workability and durability. It is widely used in key automotive interior components such as seats, door trims and center consoles.

Kolon Industries incorporated hazardous-substance reduction technology into the production line to further strengthen the environmental profile of its products. The company also introduced continuous-process equipment that minimizes idle time between production stages, boosting overall manufacturing efficiency.

The company plans to strengthen its technical foundation to target overseas markets where demand for PU synthetic leather is expected to grow. It already supplies a range of automotive interior materials — including fabric, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) — to global customers.

"This production line completion is an investment to proactively respond to the automotive interior materials market, which is rapidly shifting toward eco-friendly and premium products," a Kolon Industries official said. The official added that the company would "continue to provide automotive interior material solutions optimized for customer needs, based on differentiated process technology and a diverse materials portfolio, while working to expand our customer base and strengthen business competitiveness."


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com