Hyundai Steel (004020.KS) has set a goal to take the lead in the next-generation power infrastructure steel market, leveraging a diverse product portfolio ranging from hot-rolled and cold-rolled products made in blast furnaces to bar and special steel products manufactured in electric arc furnaces.
The company is focusing on data centers, a key facility in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, along with transmission towers for stable power delivery and energy storage system (ESS) enclosures used in power output and storage, recognizing these as new opportunities for the steel industry.
Building a data center requires not only structural steel such as H-beams, heavy plates, and rebar that form the skeleton of the building, but also steel products like hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets used to manufacture internal components and equipment. Hyundai Steel has positioned itself as Korea's only steelmaker capable of supplying both structural and non-structural steel for data centers.
In the data center segment, construction steel stands out first. Among the steel products used in data center construction, demand for section steel is currently the largest. Hyundai Steel expects that data center construction will account for about 3% of its total bar and shape steel revenue as of 2026, with the share expected to expand to around 6% in the future. In particular, multiple construction companies have been inquiring about the status of cooperation with AWS, Hyundai Steel's unique strengths, and future cooperation, and the company is reportedly in detailed discussions with several clients on partnership plans.
Hyundai Steel expects to compete with global steelmakers such as Nucor in the international market, but believes it can secure a competitive edge based on a more diverse product portfolio. Moreover, the company holds a differentiated strength in that it can provide integrated solutions extending beyond steel supply to construction itself through group-wide synergies.
The company is also actively pursuing steel orders in the ESS sector, which is essential for stable data center operations.
Among ESS components, enclosures that serve as containers and battery module cases use various steel products including hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and section steel, and Hyundai Steel is a steelmaker capable of supplying all of these products. Centered on the North American market, Hyundai Steel secured approximately 10,500 tons of orders last year and is targeting more than 52,000 tons in orders this year.
In addition, in line with Korea's plans to expand the power grid, the company plans to broaden its supply base in the transmission tower market, focused on angle steel (L-shaped steel) for towers.
Under the national transmission line expansion plan, total material requirements for transmission towers are forecast to grow from around 30,000 tons in 2025 to 41,000 tons in 2026 and 78,000 tons by 2030. In particular, demand for angle steel towers is expected to expand from 24,000 tons in 2025 to around 85,000 tons by 2028, and Hyundai Steel plans to strengthen its market response centered on the angle steel tower segment, where it holds top-tier domestic competitiveness.
Going forward, along with expanding supply centered on angle steel towers, the company is also reviewing entry into areas such as steel pipe towers and tubular-pole towers. In other words, beyond simply increasing sales of specific products, Hyundai Steel plans to build a system capable of proposing a wide range of steel solutions tailored to customer demand across the entire transmission tower market.
