Hyundai planning new multibillion dollar steel mill in Ascension Parish

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Hyundai planning new multibillion dollar steel mill in south Louisiana

By STEPHANIE RIEGEL and TYLER BRIDGES
The Advocate - Baton Rouge



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Korean auto giant Hyundai is planning to build a multibillion dollar steel mill in Ascension Parish to supply its Hyundai and Kia vehicle assembly plants in the U.S., creating roughly 1,300 full-time jobs and notching a potential major economic development opportunity for south Louisiana, according to sources familiar with the project.

Hyundai and Louisiana officials agreed on tax and other incentives in December, according to one of the sources, and Hyundai could break ground as soon as 2026. The project will require approvals from state and local regulators. If approved, it could be up and running by 2029, according to several sources with knowledge of the project.

The new facility would be built on several hundred acres of sugar cane fields near Donaldsonville, about 30 miles south of Baton Rouge. The land was re-zoned by the parish several years ago for industrial use and is part of an industrial “megapark” that state and local economic development officials have promoted to companies in search of land for new chemical or manufacturing plants.

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Hyundai is expected to spend more than $6 billion on the facility, which would be powered by natural gas, and create hundreds of construction jobs in addition to the permanent ones, the sources said.

It is not clear when the company will announce the project. Gov. Jeff Landry declined to comment on the project. Several Ascension Parish officials also declined to discuss the deal.

Hyundai did not respond to a request for comment. The Korea Economic Daily, a business newspaper in South Korea, said Tuesday that Hyundai was considering a new steel mill in Louisiana. The company told the newspaper that it has “been considering investing in the U.S. But nothing has been determined in that regard.”

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The plant would be built by Hyundai Motor Group, which also owns Kia Corp., and would be the company’s first steel mill in the U.S. When completed, it would supply the company’s two U.S. auto factories with steel sheets for the more than 600,000 vehicles they produce annually, sources said.

The company’s potential investment comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office and has threatened to impose stiff new tariffs on imports. Manufacturing its own steel, rather than importing it, could shield Hyundai from the tariffs and also save the company on shipping and logistics.

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