Seoul: Hankook Tire and Technology Co., the world's seventh-largest tiremaker by sales, announced on Thursday a significant decline in its second-quarter net profit, which fell by 44.7 percent from the previous year. The company attributed this downturn to increased costs and U.S. import tariffs.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Hankook Tire reported a net profit of 178.8 billion won (US$129.2 million) for the three months ending June 30, down from 323.1 billion won during the same period last year. The company's operating profit also experienced a decline, dropping 15.8 percent to 353.6 billion won from 420.0 billion won. However, sales witnessed a significant increase, rising to 5.36 trillion won from 2.31 trillion won.
A spokesperson for the company stated that the quarterly results were adversely affected by higher raw material and logistics costs, as well as U.S. import tariffs, which were at 25 percent during the period. In a recent development, the United States reduced import tariffs on South Korean tires to 15 percent from the previous 25 percent, following Seoul's US$350 billion investment package in the U.S.
In the first half of 2025, Hankook Tire's net income decreased by 28 percent to 490.9 billion won from 683.6 billion won a year earlier. Operating profit also saw a drop of 13.5 percent to 708.2 billion won from 818.7 billion won, while sales increased to 10.3 trillion won from 4.4 trillion won.
Hankook Tire generates more than 70 percent of its revenue from overseas markets. The company operates eight manufacturing plants across the globe, including two in South Korea, and one each in Hungary, the U.S., China (three plants), and Indonesia, with a combined annual production capacity of 100 million tires.