‘8 trillion won investment’ First Louisiana electric arc furnace steel mill begins construction
Munoz of Hyundai Motor Company “Use HPLS steel in as many vehicle models as possible”
(Donaldsonville [Louisiana, USA] = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Bo-in = Hyundai Steel has begun construction of the first electric furnace-based steel mill specializing in automotive steel sheets in the United States, and the steel sheets produced here are expected to be used in various products of Hyundai Motor Group, including the humanoid robot 'Atlas'.
At the groundbreaking ceremony for the Hyundai Steel-POSCO Louisiana Electric Furnace Steel Plant (HPLS) held in Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana, on the 4th (local time), Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun responded to a reporter's question about whether the steel produced here can be applied to Atlas, saying, "Of course, I think it should be applied."
Chairman Chung added, “I hope we can work harder in the future and supply steel to rockets such as SpaceX.”
Hyundai Steel is building HPLS in Donaldsonville, which produces a total of 2.7 million tons of hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and plated steel sheets annually, including 1.8 million tons for automobiles and 900,000 tons for general use. The investment cost is 5.8 billion dollars (about 8 trillion won), and mass production is targeted for 2029.
HPLS is an integrated steel mill that uses iron ore and natural gas to produce direct reduced iron (DRI), a raw material for steelmaking, and melts it in an electric furnace along with high-quality steel scrap to produce final products.
Hyundai Steel explains that making molten iron in this way can reduce carbon emissions by about 70% compared to the blast furnace molten iron at Hyundai Steel's Dangjin Steel Mill.
Hyundai Steel plans to operate HPLS to reduce the burden caused by U.S. tariffs on steel products while increasing accessibility to the North American market based on low-carbon steel products.
Chairman Chung, who announced plans to invest $20 billion in the U.S., including the construction of a steel mill, at the White House in March last year, commented on HPLS taking its first full-fledged step on this day, saying, "The state government and everyone are working together to help, so we are heading on a normal track."
Chairman Chung mentioned that the United States, which imports 20 million tons of steel annually, will be able to procure high value-added special steel and low-carbon steel through HPLS, and said, "I think there are positive aspects to both (the United States and Hyundai Motor Group), so I think we can create synergy."
Hyundai Motor Company President Jose Muñoz also met with reporters and said, "We want to use HPLS steel in our cars produced in the United States. We plan to apply it to all car models and as many car models as possible. We want to localize the steel used in our US plants in Alabama and Georgia as much as possible."
President Muñoz emphasized that HPLS' steel is produced locally in the United States and that it is a carbon-reduction product, and said, "Other automakers are also interested in (HPLS steel), and we will be able to produce and supply steel to them," and added, "We are actually in discussions with some companies."
