DONALDSONVILLE — José Muñoz, president and chief executive of Hyundai Motor (005380), said the automaker will use steel from the Hyundai Steel (004020)-POSCO Louisiana Steel plant, or HPLS, that Hyundai Motor Group is building in the United States across its entire vehicle lineup.
Speaking to reporters at the HPLS groundbreaking ceremony in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on the 4th, Muñoz said the steel produced at the plant would be applied to "all models, in as many vehicles as possible." He added that the company would "localize as much as possible the steel used at our U.S. auto plants in Alabama and Georgia."
Hyundai Motor Group operates a Hyundai Motor plant in Alabama and a Kia plant in Georgia.
Muñoz also expressed confidence in the quality of automotive sheet steel made from HPLS output. "Steel from Hyundai Steel and POSCO has already been tested for a long time," he said. "We are very confident about the quality." He also said HPLS steel can cut carbon emissions by up to 70%, allowing the group to make a better product than its competitors.
The plant's environmental profile is drawing strong interest from other automakers in the United States, he said. "Other automakers are without doubt very interested, so we will be able to supply steel to other companies as well," Muñoz said. "We are in fact already in discussions with some of them."
Hyundai Motor Group is investing $5.8 billion (about 8 trillion won) with POSCO to build the first electric arc furnace mill in the United States dedicated to automotive sheet steel. Commercial production is targeted for 2029, and if the plant runs as planned it is expected to be the world's first electric arc furnace mill specializing in automotive sheet steel.
