Samyang Foods will pour more than 200 billion won ($150 million) into a new plant in Vietnam, diversifying its overseas production alongside its first factory in China to ensure a steady supply of Buldak noodles to markets worldwide.
In regulatory filings Wednesday, Samyang said it will spend about 218.6 billion won on the factory in Thuan Thanh, including 131.1 billion won to be injected into a new Vietnamese subsidiary.
Samyang will wholly own the subsidiary, tentatively named Samyang Foods Bac Ninh LLC, and fund it in installments through the plant’s completion in January 2029. That injection alone equals 10.3 percent of the company’s consolidated equity at the end of last year.
The plant will have room for up to eight production lines, though Samyang will open with just one, its first overseas line for dried, non-fried noodles, and expand with demand. The other seven are earmarked for fried noodles.
The company said it chose Vietnam for its cheaper wheat flour, palm oil and labor, and for logistics and trade terms that let Samyang reach Europe and Southeast Asia from a single base.
"Compared with the United States or Europe, permits come faster and construction wraps up sooner here, and it costs less both to build the plant and to run it," a company official said.
Spreading output across several countries will also cushion Samyang against geopolitical shocks, shipping disruptions and tariffs that hit harder when manufacturing sits in one place, while keeping each market steadily supplied.
The Vietnam plan follows closely on the company’s first overseas factory.
Construction on its eight-line plant in Jiaxing, in China’s Zhejiang province, began in September last year and is due for completion in December. With an annual capacity of more than 1.1 billion packs, the plant is expected to lift Samyang’s total production capacity by about 43 percent.
By No Kyung-min (minmin@heraldcorp.com)
