Industrial giant Thaco ups vertical integration with 3 new $670 mln ventures

The Truong Hai Group Corporation (Thaco) launched three new ventures Saturday - a $550 million industrial arm, $100 million mechanical center and a $20 million research & development (R&D) center.

The massive expansion of operations in the central province of Quang Nam will, among other things, step up vertical integration and set up a supporting industry and mechanical hub in Vietnam’s central region.

The $550 million Thaco Industries, covering 120 hectares in Quang Nam’s Thaco Chu Lai Industrial Park, will manufacture semi-trailers, industrial machines, agricultural machines, auto parts and mechanical parts. It will employ 6,500 staff

At the industrial park, Thaco will continue upgrading and expanding existing factories and launch new projects, including: production of passenger car interiors, windshields, rims and other components for export; casting lines; hot stamping; and high-tech production like manufacturing and assembling of electronic circuit components and industrial robots.

The firm plans to run 36 supporting industry plants and one mechanical manufacturing complex by 2025.

The $100 million, 20-hectare mechanical center will have four factories.

The first will be a highly automated VND1.5 trillion ($63.55 million) plant with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons of steel and 300,000 mechanical products, with modern technologies.

The second will be a VND500 billion plant that can produce 20,000 semi-trailers and 6,000 tons of heavy steel structures a year.

A VND300 billion mold plant that can manufacture 1,000 mold sets and 4,000 tons of precision mechanical products yearly will be the third plant.

The fourth, another VND300 billion plant, will have a designed output of 1,200 tons of steel structures for lifting equipment and 60,000 products for industrial solutions.

The $20 million, 20,000 square meter R&D center, set to open in August 2023, will employ over 1,000 engineers and experts. It will focus on design, innovation, testing, prototype production, and other activities.

Founded in 1997, Thaco was initially a company that traded in and repaired second-hand vehicles. In just 25 years, it has become an industrial giant with two sub-holdings - Thaco Auto (automobiles) and Thagrico (agro-forestry production); and four subsidiaries - Thaco Industries (mechanics & supporting industries), Thadico (investment- construction), Thilogi (logistics), and Thiso (commerce -service).

The private group produces auto parts for global brands of Toyota, Hyundai, Piaggio; mechanical processing parts for Doosan, General Electric and others.