Pasuruan:KT&G Corp., South Korea's leading tobacco company, has announced the commencement of operations at its second manufacturing plant in Indonesia as part of its strategic expansion in Southeast Asia. The new facility is situated in Pasuruan, East Java, complementing the company's first Indonesian plant located in Surabaya.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Pasuruan plant will serve as a key manufacturing hub for KT&G in Southeast Asia, with a focus on producing goods for export to neighboring countries and other markets. This facility adds an annual production capacity of 21 billion cigarettes, raising KT&G's total production capacity in Indonesia to 35 billion cigarettes.

KT&G operates tobacco plants in five countries, including South Korea, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan. The company aims for its overseas plants to collectively reach an annual production capacity of 65 billion cigarettes, though a specific timeline for this target was not provided.

Domestically, KT&G's three plants have a combined annual production capacity of 56 billion cigarettes. By 2027, the company plans to generate half of its sales from international markets, with a sales target of 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) set for next year, up from 6.58 trillion won in 2025.

While conventional cigarettes remain a primary focus, KT&G is also committed to strengthening its heat-not-burn (HNB) products and health functional food businesses. Unlike e-cigarettes, HNB products contain tobacco that is heated rather than burned, creating an aerosol for users to inhale. The company currently derives about 90 percent of its sales from conventional cigarettes, with the remaining 10 percent from HNB products.