Hyundai reiterates interest in building EAF mill in US

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co., which assembles Hyundai and Kia vehicles in the United States and Mexico, has again expressed an interest in building a flat-rolled steel mill to serve its North American operations.

An executive with the firm reportedly mentioned the mill project in a January company earnings call, and media outlets that reached out to Hyundai and its Hyundai Steel business unit were told the move is being considered.

Argus Media says a Hyundai spokesperson it reached said the firm is reviewing whether it will invest in an electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill, but that the project has not been confirmed yet.

Reuters indicates a Hyundai spokesperson identified the U.S. Southeast as the prospective location. The region already is home to numerous recycled-content EAF mills.

The automaker currently has the capacity to assemble more than 700,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles at plants in Alabama and Georgia. The company also is in the planning stages for the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), which it says will be its first dedicated full EV manufacturing facility in the U.S.

According to a presentation posted to the Hyundai website, the HMGMA will have the capacity to assemble 300,000 vehicles per year.

In the Reuters report, the tariff policies being considered by the Trump administration factor into Hyundai’s potential investment. Currently, all of Hyundai Steel’s melt shop capacity is in South Korea, according to its website.

In March 2024, the Korea Economic Daily reported at that time that Hyundai had set up a committee to study investing in steelmaking capacity in the United States.