Hyundai Steel to start work on $5.8bn EAF-based steel mill in US

Hyundai Steel Company (HSC) is preparing to start construction on its $5.8 billion electric arc furnace (EAF)-based integrated steel mill in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.

The company, the steelmaking arm of Hyundai Motor Group, said the facility would be its first steel plant in North America.

Hyundai-Posco Louisiana Steel, a joint venture between Hyundai Steel, Posco, Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp, will operate the plant once it is complete, reported the Construction Broadsheet.

The facility is expected to open in 2029 and produce 2.7 million metric tons of hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel sheets annually, most of which will be used in automotive applications.

The ultra-low-carbon steel mill is being built on about 1,700 acres in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, within the 17,000-acre RiverPlex MegaPark on the west bank of the Mississippi River, Louisiana officials said.

Site and infrastructure work at the project site began last year, and HSC, state officials said, has also partnered with the Port of South Louisiana on a deepwater dock project that will help accommodate steel and material shipments to and from the plant.

Company officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the project on Friday, but construction of the plant cannot begin until the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality approves the project's air permit, which would allow the emission of regulated air pollutants under certain conditions and according to legal limits.