【SMM Steel】Fives signed a contract with Hyundai Steel and POSCO to supply coil finishing lines for a new $5.82bn low-carbon steel plant in Louisiana. The facility will produce 2.7 Mt/y, with 70% for auto-grade applications. Hyundai Steel aims to strengthen the local auto steel supply chain in North America. Fives will provide coil handling solutions. The plant deepens its presence in the US auto steel market.

South Korean steelmaker POSCO has announced it will begin trial operations of a new pilot plant in July 2026 that utilizes molten phase processing to produce steel directly from iron ore. This revolutionary technology aims to bypass the traditional sintering and pelletizing stages, potentially reducing carbon emissions by 50% compared to traditional blast furnace routes. The success of this trial would allow POSCO to utilize a broader range of domestic and imported low-grade iron ores that were previously unsuitable for high-efficiency steelmaking, significantly impacting global raw material demand patterns.

【SMM Steel】Hoa Phat is accelerating construction/equipment installation at its rail & special steel plant in Dung Quat Economic Zone. The project is ~35% complete, with total investment exceeding VND 10 trillion. Equipment installation begins in June with SMS group support. First high-speed railway products are planned for Q1 2027. The facility has 700,000 t/y capacity for high-quality specialized steel.

[SMM Steel] Hyundai Steel, POSCO and Fives Group signed a contract for a Louisiana flat steel project focused on automotive-grade production. The $5.82 billion plant will use a DRI-EAF route to produce low-carbon steel, with capacity including 650,000 mt HRC and 2.05 million mt CRC annually, with about 70% dedicated to automotive steel.

Recently, Hoenergy worked closely with Fengdian Technology to tailor a 5.175 MW/15 MWh industrial and commercial ESS project for a steel enterprise in Yangzhou. The project was officially connected to the grid and put into operation, leveraging smart energy technologies to forge new competitive advantages for the enterprise and inject fresh momentum into the green transformation of the steel industry. With a total capacity of 5.175 MW/15 MWh, the project adopts a 10 kV high-voltage-side grid-connection model to connect to the plant’s power grid. Its core configuration includes three sets of Hoenergy D-Ocean 5.016 MWh liquid-cooled DC cabins and three sets of 1,725 kVA inverter and step-up integrated cabins, forming an efficient and safe ESS. At the same time, the ESS also features emergency backup power capabilities, enabling rapid response in the event of power grid failures, ensuring production continuity, and reducing the economic losses caused by power outages.

[SMM Steel] South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has officially approved the development of a 1.34 million m2 site for POSCO’s hydrogen-based steel plant in Pohang via coastal reclamation. The project, including the HyREX pilot facility, targets a 300,000 mt annual capacity by 2028 and is a cornerstone of South Korea’s strategy to commercialize hydrogen steelmaking by 2030.