Hyundai Steel has executed a licensing agreement with ArcelorMittal for a hot stamping product and processes. The former closed the license deal in mid-July 2020. The patent license agreement allows it to grow its product assortment, free of patent infringement risks.
Execution of the agreement now allows Hyundai to sell and manufacture hot stamping steels in Korea, China, other ASEAN countries and the EU. Hyundai Steel indicated its plan to add two hot stamping sites in a Czech subsidiary by the end of 2020.
This expansion is expected to be focused on Hyundai’s automotive parts business. Currently, Hyundai Steel operates some of the largest hot stamping sites in South Korea to cumulatively run 24 automotive component production lines. It is also the only steel mill in the country to be granted with licensing permission.