Korea's steel industry is benefiting from the expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) market. As U.S. big tech companies ramp up data center construction, rebar exports to the United States are surging.
According to the Korea Iron & Steel Association on the 9th, rebar exports by Korean steelmakers to the United States in the first half of this year totaled 483,549 tons. That is more than 33 times higher in one year compared with 14,557 tons in the same period last year.
The increase in rebar exports to the United States stems from soaring material demand as U.S. big tech companies begin breaking ground on data centers amid rapid growth in the AI market.
Meta broke ground in 2024 on a data center of about 4,000 acres (about 16 square kilometers) in Louisiana. In the same year, OpenAI and Oracle began construction in Texas on "Stargate 1," one of the bases for the U.S. government's large-scale data center project "Stargate." Last year, Google also started building a data center in Texas.
Rebar is a material used at the basic stage of construction. In 2024, when U.S. big tech companies began building data centers, rebar exports to the United States rose to 3,695 tons, more than double the previous year. Last year, rebar exports to the United States reached 90,683 tons, a 26-fold jump from the year before. This year's exports surpassed four times last year's total by the second quarter.
Korea's share of total U.S. rebar imports is also large. In April, Korea exported 94,155 tons of rebar to the United States, accounting for 83% of total imports of 114,101 tons.
Since June last year, the United States has been imposing a 50% tariff on imported steel products, including those from Korea. The industry says that despite the high tariff on steel products, rebar exports are increasing because steel demand is strong due to data center construction.
They also assess that because most countries are subject to the same 50% tariff, the price competitiveness of domestic products does not lag, and Korean steelmakers' delivery lead-time competitiveness is strong, leading to higher market share than rival countries.
A steel company official said, "U.S. tariffs are not imposed only on Korea but are common worldwide," adding, "New demand has emerged, and supplying rebar when it is needed is crucial, and the ability to meet that need is likely a factor."
Korean steelmakers are also reorganizing to respond to rising demand from U.S. data center construction.
Hyundai Steel launched a "next-generation power infrastructure" task force (TF) in April. The goal is to focus on winning steel orders driven by growing demand for power infrastructure construction, including data centers, energy storage systems (ESS) and solar power.
Dongkuk Steel Mill also created an overseas sales team in 2024 and upgraded it last year to an export sales division. POSCO is operating a future strategic demand office to respond to U.S. data center demand and more.
An industry official said, "We struggled due to the sluggish domestic construction market, but the boom in building data centers and energy storage system (ESS) manufacturing infrastructure in the United States has given us breathing room." The official added, "As rebar demand has surged in the United States, prices have also risen significantly."