Hyundai CEO says Georgia battery plant faces 2-3 month delay after raid

Hyundai Motor Chief Executive Officer (CEO) José Muñoz stated on Friday that their battery plant in Georgia, United States (US), is facing a two to three-month startup delay following an immigration raid last week.

 

"For the construction phase of the plants, you need to get specialised people. There are a lot of skills and equipment that you cannot find in the United States," Munoz said in his first public comment since the raid, as quoted by Reuters.

 

The plant, one of the major industrial sites that South Korean companies are currently building in the US, was slated to begin operations later this year.

 

However, now with the delay, Munoz said that Hyundai will source batteries from other plants, including from a Georgia plant co-owned with Korean battery-maker SK On.

 

Over 475 detained

The raid, carried out by the US Department of Homeland Security, saw the detention of around 475 workers, including over 300 South Koreans, from the battery plant co-owned by Hyundai and LG Energy Solutions.

 

According to a report by the Associated Press, quoting US authorities, some of the detained Korean workers had illegally crossed the US border, while others entered legally but had expired visas or entered on visa waivers that prohibited them from working.

 

Munoz said that the news of the raid was "surprising" for him, and most of the workers at the centre of it were employed by suppliers of LG.

 

However, after the South Korean government reached an agreement with the US, over 300 workers were released and flown to Seoul in a charter flight on Friday.

 

South Korea has been demanding that the US improve its visa rules for skilled Korean workers, as Washington pushes Seoul to expand it industrial investments. Korean firms largely depend on short-term visitor visas or the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation to send staff for setting up and launching manufacturing sites, according to the Associated Press.