South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. broke ground for its first U.S. home appliance manufacturing plant costing $250 million with the goal of completion by 2019, in Tennessee on Thursday (local time).

According to the company, the Tennessee plant commanding a 77,000-square-meter site is expected to churn out more than 1 million washing machines every year from 2019. The company plans to sell washing machines to be produced at the plant in the U.S market starting the first quarter in 2019. The company will be investing $250 million for the plant construction and expects the new project to create at least 600 full-time jobs in Tennessee.

The electronics maker plans to gradually up the U.S. plant’s annual output from about 1 million units to match the capacity of its washing machines assembly lines in Changwon plant in Korea. The Changwon plant currently produces one washing machine every 10 seconds.

The company’s washing machines are competing well against rivals’ products in the U.S. and Latin America, said an LG official, adding that the new plant in America would help the firm further improve the company’s washing machine sales by allowing it to manage supply network better and respond more swiftly and efficiently to local demands.

The construction of the home appliance factory in Tennessee will also allow LG Electronics to accomplish its plan to fully localize its operation in the U.S that encompasses production, distribution and customer service.

The new Tennessee plant is expected to cover the company’s entire production for the U.S. market while its Mexican plant would be reassigned to manufacture products for Latin American markets, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of hefty tariffs on products imported from Mexico.

LG Electronics Inc is also investing $25 million to build electric vehicle component factory in Michigan, home to LG Chem’s EV battery factory and American automobile industry.

By Kim Dong-eun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]