Hyundai logo is seen at a new and used vehicles dealership in Palatine, Ill., Tuesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
CF Industries in Donaldsonville as seen on Friday, October 4, 2024.
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY THOM SCOTT Bayou Steel, a scrap-based mini steel mill in LaPlace, is recovering from its three year strike with its local steelworker’s union. Photo taken in December 1997.
An excavator sits on the edge of acres of farmland in Modeste on Friday, October 4, 2024.
Looking west from LA-70 on the Sunshine Bridge crossing the Mississippi River, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in St. James Parish. The CF Industries plant is seen in the background.
Hyundai logo is seen at a new and used vehicles dealership in Palatine, Ill., Tuesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
CF Industries in Donaldsonville as seen on Friday, October 4, 2024.
An excavator sits on the edge of acres of farmland in Modeste on Friday, October 4, 2024.
Looking west from LA-70 on the Sunshine Bridge crossing the Mississippi River, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in St. James Parish. The CF Industries plant is seen in the background.
Korean auto giant Hyundai is planning to build a multibillion dollar steel mill in Ascension Parish to supply its Hyundai and Kia vehicle assembly plants in the U.S., creating roughly 1,300 full-time jobs and notching a potential major economic development opportunity for south Louisiana, according to sources familiar with the project.
Hyundai and Louisiana officials agreed on tax and other incentives in December, according to one of the sources, and Hyundai could break ground as soon as 2026. The project will require approvals from state and local regulators. If approved, it could be up and running by 2029, according to several sources with knowledge of the project.
The new facility would be built on several hundred acres of sugar cane fields near Donaldsonville, about 30 miles south of Baton Rouge. The land was re-zoned by the parish several years ago for industrial use and is part of an industrial “megapark” that state and local economic development officials have promoted to companies in search of land for new chemical or manufacturing plants.
Hyundai is expected to spend more than $6 billion on the facility, which would be powered by natural gas, and create hundreds of construction jobs in addition to the permanent ones, the sources said.
It is not clear when the company will announce the project. Gov. Jeff Landry declined to comment on the project. Several Ascension Parish officials also declined to discuss the deal.
Hyundai did not respond to a request for comment. The Korea Economic Daily, a business newspaper in South Korea, said Tuesday that Hyundai was considering a new steel mill in Louisiana. The company told the newspaper that it has “been considering investing in the U.S. But nothing has been determined in that regard.”
The steel mill represents a significant economic development win for Landry a year into his first term. Landry has said he wants to create a new industrial era in Louisiana with lower corporate taxes and streamlined regulations that will make it easier to do business in the state. In late November, Landry announced a deal with Facebook parent company Meta, which said it plans to build a $10 billion data center in north Louisiana that will create up to 500 permanent jobs.
In December, Hut 8, a company that operates Bitcoin mining facilities, announced plans for a $2.5 billion data center in West Feliciana Parish that will also create several hundred jobs.
The Hyundai deal has been in the works for much of the past year. In October, Landry traveled to South Korea to meet with Hyundai officials. Among those on the trip were Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois and several Ascension Parish officials, including Parish President Clint Cointment, parish Chief Administrative Officer Ruth Phillips, Sheriff Bobby Webre and state Sen. Eddie Lambert, R-Gonzales.
The plant would be built by Hyundai Motor Group, which also owns Kia Corp., and would be the company’s first steel mill in the U.S. When completed, it would supply the company’s two U.S. auto factories with steel sheets for the more than 600,000 vehicles they produce annually, sources said.
Hyundai has a plant in Montgomery, Alabama. Kia has a plant in West Point, Georgia.
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY THOM SCOTT Bayou Steel, a scrap-based mini steel mill in LaPlace, is recovering from its three year strike with its local steelworker’s union. Photo taken in December 1997.
The company’s potential investment comes as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office and has threatened to impose stiff new tariffs on imports. Manufacturing its own steel, rather than importing it, could shield Hyundai from the tariffs and also save the company on shipping and logistics.
Hyundai was attracted to the site in south Louisiana for several reasons, according to sources familiar with the deal. The state has cheap natural gas and electricity, both of which will be used to power the plant. The industrial site also has easy access to shipping, rail lines and Louisiana Highway 1, which connects to Interstate-10.
To make the deal more attractive, Louisiana Economic Development offered Hyundai several incentives, including long-term tax breaks and rebates in return for creating new jobs, sources said. LED declined say what terms were offered.
The company is also eligible to receive a break on its property taxes to the parish under the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
Ascension Parish has focused over the past decade on making its west bank, which still has thousands of acres of cane fields, attractive to industry. In 2015, the parish created an industrial overlay district from more than 17,000 acres of contiguous farmland with 9 miles of river frontage.
In 2022, it created a special economic development district, which ensures that tax revenues generated within the district are used for infrastructure projects. Though much of the land within the district, which is marketed as the Riverplex MegaPark, is still privately owned by the families who have farmed sugar cane there for generations, more than 75% of the landowners agreed several years ago to work with future developers.
Hyundai has identified several sites in the area it is interested in acquiring for its steel mill but has not finalized any purchases, according to two sources familiar with the deal.
In addition to purchasing the land, the company needs to secure permits from state and local regulators before the project could move forward, sources said.
New industrial projects proposed for nearby West St. James Parish have generated considerable pushback in recent years from environmental groups and local activists like Bucket Brigade and Rise St. James because of their potential impact on those who live in frontline communities.
West Ascension has not had any major new projects proposed, until now, so it it not clear whether it will generate similar opposition.
Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate.com.
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