Hyundai Motor Group and POSCO Group are joining forces in the steel and secondary battery materials sectors. They have decided to cooperate in order to enhance global competitiveness.
Hyundai Motor Group and POSCO Group held a signing ceremony for the "strategic partnership agreement on comprehensive business cooperation in the areas of steel and secondary battery materials between Hyundai Motor Group and POSCO Group" on the morning of the 21st at Hyundai Motor's Gangnam office in Gangnam District, Seoul, with Vice President Han Seok-won (head of the Planning and Coordination Division) from Hyundai Motor Group and President Lee Joo-tae (head of the Future Strategy Division) from POSCO Holdings in attendance.
Through a stable supply of key raw materials for mobility, Hyundai Motor Group aims to enhance its competitiveness in major global markets and future new business ventures, while POSCO Group plans to establish a new foothold for its entry into the North American steel market and expand its position as a materials company supplying high-quality steel and secondary battery materials.
Initially, the two groups will pursue collaboration across a broad range of areas, from the rapidly changing global trade environment in the steel sector to the transition to carbon-reduced steel production. In particular, POSCO Group is considering investing equity in Hyundai Motor Group's electric furnace steel mill construction project in Louisiana and examining options to directly sell a portion of the production volume.
The Hyundai Motor Group's Louisiana steel mill, which will see an investment of a total of $5.8 billion, is characterized as a specialized steel mill with a consistent process from raw materials to products that can produce high-quality goods while reducing carbon emissions compared to traditional blast furnaces. Once completed, it is expected to produce 2.7 million tons of hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel annually.
Through this partnership, Hyundai Motor Group will be able to securely supply high-quality automotive steel to major automotive production bases in the U.S., including the Hyundai Motor Group Meta Plant America (HMGMA), the Hyundai Alabama plant, and the Kia Georgia plant, as well as to other global automotive manufacturers, while POSCO Group will secure a foothold for its entry into the North American steel market.
In the future, Hyundai Motor Group and POSCO Group also plan to collaborate in the secondary battery materials sector.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to solidify its top-tier leadership in global electrification with total annual sales of 3.26 million electric vehicles by 2030 and is pursuing various collaborations with specialized global corporations to secure key materials for secondary batteries. In particular, POSCO Group is securing lithium raw materials reliably through ownership and equity investments in overseas salt lakes and mines, and is producing lithium hydroxide and cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries at its business sites both domestically and internationally.
The two groups plan to seek ways to secure stable and diversified supply chains for key materials for secondary batteries, including lithium, for which global competition is fierce amid increasing geopolitical risks. This is expected to contribute to securing battery raw materials that can respond to supply chain reshuffling and trade regulations in the United States and European Union.
Additionally, they plan to continue their collaboration in a way that explores areas where the two groups can create synergy, such as the development of next-generation materials.
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