The groundbreaking ceremony was held in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. The facility will be built on an area of approximately 7.37 million square meters and will be Hyundai Steel’s first steel production base in North America.
Under HPLS’s ownership structure, Hyundai Steel holds a 50% stake, POSCO 20%, while Hyundai Motor and Kia each hold 15%.
Annual production of 2.7 million mt of flat steel planned
The facility is planned to have an annual production capacity of 2.7 million mt of hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel products. A significant portion of production is expected to consist of high quality steel sheets for the automotive sector.
An integrated system covering the production stages from raw materials to finished products will be established at the facility. The plant will use direct reduced iron (DRI) and electric arc furnace technology to produce high quality flat steel with lower carbon emissions.
According to Hyundai Steel, this production method could reduce carbon emissions by approximately 70% compared with conventional blast furnace based production.
The company plans to further reduce emissions by replacing natural gas used in DRI production with hydrogen and increasing the use of renewable energy in EAF operations in the future.
1.8 million mt capacity to be allocated to automotive steel
Of the total annual capacity of 2.7 million mt, approximately 1.8 million mt is planned to consist of automotive steel sheets. HPLS aims to supply steel produced at the facility to Hyundai Motor and Kia plants in the US as well as other automakers.
Hyundai Motor President José Muñoz stated that the company is working to use steel produced at HPLS across all of its vehicle models and is also in discussions with other automakers regarding steel supply.
Hyundai Steel will be able to serve automotive production facilities in the southern US and Mexico thanks to the location of the facility.
Project expected to create 5,400 jobs
The project is expected to create a total of 5,400 jobs in the region, including 1,300 direct and approximately 4,100 indirect jobs.
The facility site in Donaldsonville is located near the Mississippi River and has access to rail and port infrastructure. The location also provides advantages in terms of access to energy resources such as natural gas and electricity.
The facility is also located close to Hyundai Motor’s production plant in Alabama, Kia’s plant in Georgia, and other automakers operating in the southern US.
Hyundai aims to expand steel applications
Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, stated that steel produced at HPLS will contribute to next generation mobility production by Hyundai Motor Group as well as US automakers.
Chung said that the steel produced at the facility could be used in various areas beyond the automotive sector, ranging from AI data centers to energy generation. The company is also considering expanding the use of steel in robotics and other advanced technology applications in the future.
The HPLS project forms part of Hyundai Motor Group’s overall USD 26 billion investment program planned for the US through 2028.
Hyundai Steel aims to strengthen the automotive steel supply chain and provide direct supplies to customers in the country by establishing local production capacity in the US. Mass production at the facility is scheduled to begin in 2029.
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