Hyundai Steel has begun construction of a US$5.8 billion electric arc furnace (EAF)-based steel mill in Louisiana, marking a major investment in US manufacturing and adding new domestic capacity to the automotive supply chain.
The project, launched at a ceremony in Ascension Parish on 5 September, is Hyundai Steel’s first North American steel production base.
In a news release, the company said the facility is expected to begin commercial production in 2029, with annual capacity of 2.7 million tonnes of hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel sheets, primarily for automotive applications.
Hyundai Steel said the project is expected to create 5,400 jobs, including 1,300 direct positions, and will be operated by Hyundai-POSCO Louisiana Steel, a joint venture between Hyundai Steel, POSCO, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation.
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung said the investment would contribute to the expansion of US manufacturing.
“As America strengthens its manufacturing leadership, steel will continue to power the next chapter of its industrial resurgence,” Chung said at the launch.
“We are proud to contribute to that vision and to the future of ‘Made in America’.”
The Louisiana facility forms part of Hyundai Motor Group’s broader US$26 billion US investment commitment through 2028. According to Hyundai Steel, the wider investment program covers automotive production, steelmaking, robotics and other areas, with the group saying it has invested more than US$20.5 billion in the US since entering the market in 1986.
The project also comes as the US government places greater emphasis on expanding domestic manufacturing capacity and strengthening industrial supply chains.
In March, the US Trade Representative launched Section 301 investigations into structural excess capacity and production across manufacturing sectors in a range of economies, including South Korea. The USTR said the investigations were intended to examine whether foreign government policies and practices were placing a burden on US commerce.
“The United States will no longer sacrifice its industrial base to other countries that may be exporting their problems with excess capacity and production to us,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said when announcing the investigations.
The agency said the move was part of efforts to “reshore critical supply chains and create good-paying jobs for American workers across our manufacturing sectors.”
Against that backdrop, Hyundai Steel’s project represents an example of foreign investment being used to establish manufacturing capacity within the US market.
The steel mill is also being positioned as part of a more integrated automotive manufacturing supply chain. Hyundai Steel said its Louisiana production will supply hot- and cold-rolled steel sheets primarily for automotive applications, including steel for global automakers such as Hyundai Motor and Kia. The company said the facility will use EAF technology alongside a direct reduction process.
Hyundai Steel describes the facility as a low-carbon steel production operation. However, the environmental performance of EAF steelmaking can vary according to the feedstock and energy sources used.
The World Steel Association’s 2025 sustainability indicators show that, on a global average basis, greenhouse gas emissions intensity was 2.66 tonnes of CO? equivalent per tonne of crude steel for the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace route, compared with 1.66 tonnes for direct-reduced iron-EAF production and 0.71 tonnes for scrap-EAF production in 2024.
The figures provide broader industry context rather than an emissions estimate for the Louisiana project.
The development is also being accompanied by investment in research and workforce development. In June, Louisiana State University and Hyundai Steel signed a master research agreement covering areas including metallurgy, materials science, energy, robotics and automation, and environmental engineering.
LSU said the agreement would support research connected with the planned EAF mill while helping develop a skilled workforce for the industry. LSU described the project as one of the largest industrial investments in Louisiana’s history and said the partnership was intended to support “next-generation steelmaking” and American manufacturing.
