PeakVibe

Country Business Reports interviews and articles by Discovery Reports

With its ductility, strength and durability, steel wire is used in a variety of applications such as automotive, manufacturing and telecommunications, to cite a few examples. Its versatility has created a steady and stable demand across the globe. One company in South Korea has made it its mission to become a global leader capable of delivering quality and cost-effectiveness: Kiswire.

Starting as a trading company in 1945, Kiswire evolved into a steel wire manufacturer in 1963. Since then, the company has solely focused on steadily building its steel wire technical know-how. It is this strong foundational knowledge that has enabled Kiswire to adapt its products to a variety of industry requirements.

“We have the same quality-oriented mindset today as we had 30 years ago. Throughout our history, our customers have gotten to know us as a reliable and trusted partner. They know that Kiswire is synonymous with consistent service,” says Hong Young-chul, chairman and CEO.

Kiswire offers a wide variety of products including steel tyre cord and bead wire for tyre reinforcement, wire ropes, spring wires, galvanised wire and strand, superconducting wire and oil-tempered wires. The company established its own research and development (R&D) centre in Pohang – a city that is home to POSCO, one of the world’s biggest steel manufacturers and Kiswire’s raw material supplier. The centre’s proximity to POSCO and other steel companies and universities in the area enables Kiswire to pursue technological exchanges and cooperative research.

The R&D centre in Pohang has played an important part in paving the way for developing production breakthroughs such as localisation of materials, advanced techniques and productivity improvement, to name a few.

Kiswire operates several factories locally and overseas to meet the global demand for its products, 50 per cent of which comes from outside South Korea. Last year, the company recorded a global sales figure of approximately US$2 billion.

Kiswire has established offices in the United States, China, India, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hungary, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam to provide better support for clients. The company’s talent pool worldwide is 5,500-strong.

Given its global scope, Kiswire established another R&D centre in Malaysia to work closely with its customers in the region and to understand how its products are used in a variety of contexts and settings. Kiswire also intends to see how it can further improve its products. The company has also inaugurated another R&D centre in Germany.

“We concentrate on continuously improving our production processes. We work on making the quality and value-for-price better every year,” Hong says.

With the company’s consistent track record, it comes as no surprise that Kiswire is among the South Korean companies participating in ITER (originally the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor).

ITER is a joint project of China, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US to build a nuclear fusion experimental device to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free energy source. By combining their financial and scientific resources, the seven partners intend to advance fusion science to pave the way for future fusion power plants.

To date, Kiswire has provided more than US$100 million worth of superconducting wire for the ITER Project, which is slated to commence operations in 2025. Upon the success of the ITER project, Kiswire aims to commercially produce the same wires in 2035.

Kiswire is well established in the East Asian, North American and European markets, and is looking at Southeast Asia as its next growth area.

“My father built the company on the principles of creativity, reliability and patience. I hope to continue this legacy with the help of the talented employees of Kiswire,” Hong says.

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