WASHINGTON – Union Pacific will serve the $5.8 billion steel mill that Hyundai Motor Group will build in Louisiana.
The electric arc furnace facility, announced today during a White House ceremony, will supply steel coils for U.S. Hyundai and Kia plants as well as U.S. automakers, Hyundai said. The mill will be built at the RiverPlex MegaPark on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish, La., which is about 25 miles southeast of Baton Rouge.
UP’s Livonia Subdivision runs through the undeveloped industrial park. Plans call for a loop track and support yard on the site. The plant will send steel shipments to Hyundai assembly plants in Alabama and Georgia, which are served by CSX and Genesee & Wyoming short line Georgia Central, respectively. The mill also will ship by truck, the automaker said.
“Hyundai Steel’s investment in an electric arc furnace based integrated steel mill in the U.S. is anticipated to stimulate local economic growth, including the creation of new job opportunities,” Hyundai Steel Co. President and CEO Gang Hyun Seo said. “We plan to supply automotive steel plates not only for Hyundai Motor and Kia’s strategic models but also to expand sales to U.S. automakers in the future.”
The plant, which is expected to employ 1,300 people, will produce 2.7 million metric tons of steel annually. The facility also will import 3.6 million tons of iron ore by ship.
President Donald Trump, standing beside executives from the South Korean automaker, praised Hyundai’s decision to bring additional production to the U.S. “Get ready. This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” Trump said. “They’ll be making their cars here in America.”
The steel plant is part of $21 billion in investments Hyundai will make to expand production in the U.S. through 2028.
Chris, just wondering how you know that the tariffs weren’t a determining factor. If they have been considering it for almost a year they didn’t announce it when Sleepy was in office. The tariffs may have changed Hyundai’s time line in getting the project started.
Hyundai has been considering locations for a steel mill in the Southeastern U.S. for almost a year. Nothing to do with king trumps tariffs. But he’ll gladly take credit.
New U.S. tariffs seem to impact Korean steel industry.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün