Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industry locates 1st US manufacturing plant in Alabama

Hyundai Heavy puts 1st US plant in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries is locating its first American manufacturing plant in Alabama, creating about 500 jobs.

Company executives joined state and local officials Friday to announce the $90 million project will be located in Montgomery.

The plant will make large power transformers, weighing over 500 tons each. Chief Executive J.S. Lee said groundbreaking will be in about a month with production beginning in early 2012. He estimated the plant will turn out more than 200 transformers annually.

The official plans for the plant say it will create 480 jobs, but Lee said the total will exceed 500. He predicted the factory will become the center of the company’s operations in North America.

“It’s only the beginning,” he said.

Another Korean company, the automaker Hyundai, put its first American assembly plant in Montgomery. The two companies were begun by the same person, but operate separately. Hyundai Heavy Industries is best known for its ship building division.

The announcement Friday coincided with state officials reporting that Alabama’s unemployment rate for June declined to 10.3 percent, the lowest figure in a year.

Gov. Bob Riley said he expects to follow up Friday’s announcement with another next week. He leaves Saturday for the Farnborough International Air Show outside London, where hopes to sign a deal that will bring about 300 aerospace jobs to the Huntsville area.