HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― AmorePacific Corp., South Korea’s No. 1 cosmetics manufacturer, plans to complete construction of its second Chinese plant in 2014 in a bid to expand its capacity in the world’s most populous country, company officials said Wednesday.
The factory, currently under construction in Shanghai, will manufacture cosmetics products worth 1 trillion won ($905 million) per year when it is completed, they said.
The South Korean cosmetics maker runs another factory in Shanghai, which produces some 100 billion worth of goods a year and has been operating at its full capacity to meet the rapidly growing demand in China.
The new factory will help AmorePacific bolster its China sales to 700 billion won by 2015, they said.
In 2011, the company’s Chinese sales soared 33.5 percent on-year to 190.8 billion won from 142.9 billion won the previous year.
The robust growth in China was backed by the popularity of flagship brands Laneige and Mamonde.
High-end Sulwhasoo products and “masstige” brand Innisfree are expected to further support the company’s strong performance in China, the officials said. The masstige market is a cross between mass market and prestige cosmetics.
China has become one of the most important markets for AmorePacific, as the second-largest cosmetics market in Asia after Japan continues to grow rapidly.