South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group planned to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) flat steel mill in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, with an investment of US$5.8 billion, to support its US automotive plants in Alabama and Georgia, plants operated by Hyundai-subsidiary Kia, as well as other US automakers.

Announced at a news conference with US President Trump, the plan could circumvent US steel tariffs. The mill, with a capacity of 2.7 million metric tons per year, is expected to start construction in the third quarter of 2026.

Hyundai Steel will import 3.6 million tons of iron ore and build a deep-water dock on the west bank of the Mississippi River for shipments. This would be Louisiana's first flat steel mill, located 48 miles west of New Orleans.