AmorePacific to start manufacturing in Malaysia

The continued international expansion of AmorePacific Group will see the Korean cosmetics company establishing a manufacturing base in Malaysia.

The company, which is one of the fastest growing multinational cosmetic and personal care players in the world. says it will invest around $180m in a brand new facility that will be built in Nusajaya, in the southern state of Johor.

The investment adds to a growing international manufacturing base, which now also includes both France and China, and will feed into the company’s ambitions to further expand beyond the small South Korean market.

Focusing on Southeast Asia

The company says that it aims to have the manufacturing completed by 2020, and once production starts it is likely to feed growing demand in the Southeast Asian region, particularly in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

Although the brands that will be made at the facility have not been confirmed, the facility will be built in three instalments between October 2016 and January 2019 to allow production to be gradually ramped up.

The facility itself will also create 500 jobs in an region that has close proximity to Singapore and is also highly developed as a technical and manufacturing hub for the Singapore-Indonesia-Malaysia markets.

The international manufacturing expansion fits into AmorePacific ambitions to become a more international business and try to maintain the robust growth the business saw in 2015.

International expansion feeds huge sales growth

Last year sales grew by 20.1% to reach 5.66 trillion won (approximately $4.7bn), a figure that was driven by robust sales in China and throughout the Asia Pacific region, as well as the United States.

In Asia Pacific the success of the company has been largely down to its five principle brands - Sulhwasoo, Laneige, Mamonde, Innisfree and Etude House.

In particular the Sulhwasoo brand has been particularly successful in cornering the fast growing demand for luxury cosmetic products throughout the region.