Hyundai Steel is expected to accelerate its push into advanced manufacturing markets in the United States — including artificial intelligence data centers and power infrastructure — as well as local mobility, as it builds out production capacity there.
The company plans to use its Hyundai Steel Louisiana plant, an electric arc furnace mill, as a springboard to win new orders not only for high-value automotive steel sheet but also for advanced infrastructure such as AI data centers, semiconductor plants and power grids, industry officials said on the 6th. In March, Hyundai Steel set up a next-generation power infrastructure task force to strengthen its response to demand from new markets requiring high-value steel products.
Data centers, transmission towers and energy storage systems are the three pillars of Hyundai Steel's sales strategy for power infrastructure steel. The company has won orders for more than 30,000 tons of steel from seven new data centers so far this year, according to industry sources. Hyundai Steel aims to more than quadruple sales in the three power infrastructure segments to 400,000 tons by 2030 from about 90,000 tons this year.
The United States, where Hyundai Steel is building the Louisiana mill, is the world's most active market for advanced infrastructure construction, including AI data centers. Capital spending on AI data centers in the U.S. is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 22%, from $120 billion in 2024 to about $400 billion in 2030, according to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company. New power demand generated in the U.S. is estimated at 80 to 100 gigawatts as a result. A data center of one gigawatt typically requires 200,000 tons of steel, according to industry officials.
Rising Korean rebar exports to the U.S., despite a 50% tariff on foreign steel there, show how quickly local demand is growing. Korean steelmakers shipped 484,000 tons of rebar to the U.S. in the first half of this year, more than 33 times the 14,557 tons sent in the same period a year earlier. The Louisiana mill would also allow Hyundai Steel to sidestep volatile U.S. tariff risk.
