POSCO and Hyundai to jointly build a $5.8 billion steel plant in the US

The future plant in Louisiana is the result of Donald Trump's controversial tariff policy

South Korean giants POSCO Holdings Inc. and Hyundai Motor Group are joining forces to implement a large-scale steel project in the United States. The companies signed a memorandum of cooperation to build a $5.8 billion plant in Louisiana. The plant will have a capacity of 2.7 million tons of steel per year and is scheduled to launch in 2029, Bloomberg reports.

Although the amount of POSCO’s investment in the project has not yet been disclosed, the participation of South Korea’s largest steelmaker together with Hyundai, which owns the country’s second largest steelmaker, Hyundai Steel, demonstrates the strategic importance of the initiative.

According to Hyundai, the new plant will provide a stable supply of high-quality automotive steel for its production facilities in the United States. In addition, the companies plan to cooperate in the field of batteries and ensure supply chains of raw materials that meet US and European standards.

This project has become one of the key ones in Hyundai’s overall $21 billion investment package in the United States. President Donald Trump earlier called this initiative proof of the effectiveness of the imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports aimed at supporting domestic production.

In light of the news, South Korean officials are traveling to Washington with the hope of convincing the US administration to cancel or mitigate the tariffs, including the 25% duty on Korean steel and cars.

In March 2025, Hyundai Motor Group announced investments in the United States worth $21 billion for 2025-2028. They include a steel plant with an electric arc furnace in Louisiana, which will be built by the steel division of Hyundai Steel. The plant will create more than 1.4 thousand jobs and produce a new generation of steel.