TaeguTec Ltd. (Korean: 대구텍), formerly known as Korea Tungsten Company, is a

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

headquartered in

Daegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

, Korea. It is the largest cutting tools manufacturer in the Far East, also Korea's largest manufacturer of tungsten cutting tools and hard metal tools with the only integrated tungsten production plant in the world. TaeguTec group has 26 overseas subsidiaries and over 130 distributors and 30 agents in 50 countries across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the American countries. Considered as the world's oldest manufacturer of tungsten and related products, the group has earned reputation for its excellent global marketing and large production capacity worldwide. In addition to the initial 80 per cent stake purchased in 2006,

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...

paid additional 2 billion dollars for the remaining stake in IMC, of which TaeguTec was a part. Through this acquisition, TaeguTec became

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...

's first and only wholly owned subsidiary in Korea. On October 25, 2007, Warren Buffett flew to

to tour TaeguTec and to meet with the management. On March 21, 2011, Warren Buffett re-visited the firm to attend TaeguTec Plant 2 inauguration ceremony and later met with Korean President

Lee Myung-bak Lee Myung-bak (; ; ; born 19 December 1941) is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the m ...

History

Before 1960s

*Apr. 1916: Outcrop of Sang-dong mine discovered in Gangwon Province, South Korea *Feb. 1947: Exported Scheelite to the U.S. for the first time *Sep. 1952: Korea Tungsten Company (KTC) established by the Korean government **Export: US$16,457,000 (56% of Korean total) **Employee: 4,287 *May. 1959: Constructed chemical processing plant

1960s

*Jun. 1961: Established New York office *Sep. 1961: Established R&D Center *Nov. 1961: Established London office *Feb. 1963: Established Tokyo office *Nov. 1966: Won official commendation from government for export **Ranked second among Korean companies *Nov. 1967: Won official commendation from government for export **Ranked third among Korean companies *Feb. 1968:

POSCO POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel-making company headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the world's fourth-largest steelmaker by this measure. In 2010, i ...

established as a joint venture between the Korean government and KTC (government 75%; KTC 25%) *Nov. 1968: Won official commendation from government for export *Nov. 1969: Won official commendation from government for export

1970s

*Nov. 1972: Constructed APT (Ammonium Para Tungstate) plant *Feb. 1974: Constructed tungsten metal powder and tungsten carbide powder plant *Nov. 1976: Established

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

office *Nov. 1977: Constructed cemented carbide plant **Products: Blank, carbide insert, mining tools, brazed tools *Oct. 1978: Constructed coating plant (CVD-TiN production) *Dec. 1979: Constructed tool holder plant

1980s

*Jan. 1981: Developed special coating substrate *May 1983: Rotterdam office in Netherlands moved to Germany *Jul. 1985: Common R&D cooperation between Korea Tungsten and POSCO *Oct. 1985: Developed CERMET inserts *Nov. 1988: Constructed carbide roll plant *Nov. 1989: Constructed tungsten wire plant

1990s

*Mar. 1991: Constructed ceramic plant *Feb. 1994: Sang-dong tungsten mine closed *Mar. 1994: Privatized and taken over by Keopyung Group *May. 1995: Established tungsten wire plant in China *Aug. 1998: KTC bought out by

Iscar ISCAR Ltd. is an Israeli multinational metal cutting tools company affiliated with one of the world's largest metalworking conglomerates, the IMC Group (International Metalworking Companies). ISCAR and the IMC Group were acquired by Warren Buf ...

*Aug. 1998: Company name changed from Korea Tungsten Company to TaeguTec Ltd. *Feb. 1999: Headquarters moved from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

to Taegu *Apr. 1999: Constructed new Marketing Center **1999: Established TaeguTec USA (currently Ingersoll USA) **1999: Established TaeguTec Germany (currently Ingersoll GmbH)

2000s

*Mar. 2000: Established TaeguTec India in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

*Mar. 2000: Established TaeguTec UK in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

*Jul. 2000: Constructed new R&D Center *Dec. 2000: Established TaeguTec China in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

*Mar. 2001: Established TaeguTec Brazil in

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...

*Jun. 2001: Established TaeguTec Scandinavia in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, Denmark *Jun. 2002: Established TaeguTec Italy in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

*Jun. 2004: Established TaeguTec Japan in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

*Jun. 2004: Constructed new Tech Center and Carbide Rod factory *Jun. 2005: Established TaeguTec Australia in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

*Oct. 2005: Established TaeguTec Turkey in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

*Mar. 2006: Established TaeguTec Slovakia in

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of S ...

*Apr. 2006: Established TaeguTec Malaysia in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

*Jan. 2007: Established TaeguTec Thailand in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

*Feb. 2007: Established TaeguTec Spain in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

*Mar. 2007: Established TaeguTec France in

Champs-sur-Marne Champs-sur-Marne () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris, in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France in the Île-de-France region. The commune of Champs-sur-Marne is part of the Val Maub ...

*Jul. 2007: Established TaeguTec Indonesia in

Bekasi Bekasi (, su, ) is a city in West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta.the city of planet Bekasi is his nickname.It serves as a commuter city within the Jakarta metropolitan area. According to the 2020 Census by Statistic ...

*Nov. 2007: Established TaeguTec Poland in Wroclaw *Apr. 2008: Established TaeguTec Russia in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

*Apr. 2008: Established TaeguTec Ukraine in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

*Jun. 2009: Established TaeguTec South Africa in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

*Sep. 2009: Established TaeguTec Czech in Pilsen *Nov. 2009: Established TaeguTec Hungary in Törökbálint *Nov. 2010: Established TaeguTec Argentina in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

*Apr. 2012: Opened TaeguTec Plant II *

Awards and events

*Received a "$100 million Export Tower" award (2005) *

visited TaeguTec (2007) *Received a "$200 million Export Tower" award (2008)TaeguTec received '$200 million Export Tower', TaeguTec, Dec 11, 2008
/ref> *

attended TaeguTec Plant 2 inauguration ceremony (2011)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taegutec South Korean brands Companies based in Daegu Manufacturing companies established in 1952 Companies of South Korea Manufacturing companies of South Korea Multinational companies Berkshire Hathaway 1952 establishments in South Korea