Chung Yoo-dong, eighth from left, senior vice president and head of Hyundai Steel's research and development division, and Louisiana State University Chancellor James Dalton, seventh from left, pose with officials from both sides after signing a Master Research Agreement in Baton Rouge, La., Tuesday (local time). Courtesy of Hyundai Steel
Louisiana State University (LSU) and Hyundai Steel have signed a Master Research Agreement to support research, technology development and workforce training tied to Hyundai Steel’s $5.8 billion steel mill project in Louisiana.
Signed Tuesday (local time) in Baton Rouge, the agreement creates a framework for collaborative research and jointly developed technologies across metallurgy, materials science, energy, robotics, automation and environmental engineering. It is also intended to help develop talent for Hyundai Steel’s planned North American production facility in Ascension Parish, about 50 kilometers from LSU’s main campus.
The steel mill, slated for completion in 2029, will be one of the first fully integrated electric arc furnace (EAF)-based steel plants of its kind in North America. Located on an 1,800-acre site in RiverPlex MegaPark, the facility is expected to create about 1,300 jobs and support thousands more indirectly.
