July 18, 2007
The Turkish company KORDSA is the leading supplier of nylon and polyester industrial yarn, tire cord and industrial fabrics in the world. It is owned by the Turkish industrial giant Sabanci Holding based in Istanbul. Sabanci is one of the most prominent holding companies in Turkey with interests in a number of sectors including the automobile and tire industry, cement, chemicals, education, energy, finance, international trade and textiles.
KORDSA acquired its current name in 2005 after Sabanci Holding took control of the company after buying out E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. In addition to its manufacturing sites in Turkey, KORDSA operates in the USA, Germany, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, and Iran. It employs over 5100 employees worldwide.
In the U.S., KORDSA has two manufacturing facilities, one in North Carolina and one in Tennessee. The facility in North Carolina is in Laurel Hill located in the 8th congressional district represented by Robin Hayes. KORDSA has recently invested $25 million to upgrade the Laurel Hill plant which is now a state-of-the-art world-class facility in the twisting and weaving of industrial yarns and fabrics. A new investment project is currently being undertaken to upgrade the fabric finishing unit. Upon the completion of this project, the Laurel Hill’s finishing unit will be the most up-to-date and modern in the United States. The Laurel Hill facility has 140 employees.
KORDSA’s manufacturing facility in Tennessee is located in Chattanooga and is in the 3rd congressional district represented by Zach Wamp. This plant has 325 employees and produces industrial nylon which used in various rubber industries such as tires, mechanical rubber goods, webbing, and light denier high elongation yarn and cordage markets. KORDSA has undertaken a $23 million dollar investment to maintain its state-of-art facility in Chattanooga.
These new investments show KORDSA’s commitment to maintain state-of-art manufacturing facilities in North Carolina and Tennessee help keep jobs and manufacturing in these two southern states.