Nearly $10 billion in new factories commit to this Ascension Parish location.
What began a dozen years ago as a dream to transform a large tract of farmland in south Louisiana into a modern industrial park has emerged this year as a major economic development force in the South.
RiverPlex MegaPark in Ascension Parish is no longer just a vision or a plan. It is a thriving commercial park that is attracting some of the largest capital investments on the planet and is now firmly on the radar of every site selector.
At 17,000-plus acres, RiverPlex is the largest tract of undeveloped industrial property on the Mississippi River, but it is not going to stay that way for long. Thanks to two massive corporate facility investments announced this spring, RiverPlex is about to become the epicenter of advanced manufacturing on the Gulf Coast.
The twin investments are coming from Hyundai Steel Company of South Korea and CF Industries of Northbrook, Illinois. Together, they represent nearly $10 billion worth of new plants and 1,500 jobs coming to this parish of 133,926 people 30 minutes south of Baton Rouge and an hour west of New Orleans.
None of it would be possible without RiverPlex, says Kate MacArthur, president and CEO of Ascension Economic Development Corporation (AEDC). “Industrial growth like this doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of smart planning, long-term vision, and people working together to create opportunity where it’s needed most.”
Ascension Parish has long been a mainstay in logistics and manufacturing in the South. Split by the Mississippi River, the parish is now the site of one of the biggest game-changing industrial parks in the world. But it wasn’t always that way. The eastern portion of the parish had flourished for decades while progress bypassed the West Bank.
The West Bank Industrial Overlay in RiverPlex was created in 2015 to establish expedited re-zoning, as the current use of the land is agriculture. Among the core benefits of RiverPlex are access to the Union Pacific mainline; two possible deep-draft dock locations on site; available land; nearby industrial services; state and community support including incentives; and access to a strong regional chemical cluster.
RiverPlex MegaPark development opportunities are enormous, says MacArthur. The undeveloped land covers 10 miles of Mississippi River frontage and docks. The overlay district includes 1,900 acres of light industrial, 3,413 acres of medium industrial and 10,947 acres of heavy industrial uses. It also includes 644 acres for mixed use.
Riverplex began as a strategic initiative to attract major industrial development to the region. It was established in 2013 through a partnership between the AEDC, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Louisiana Economic Development (LED) and local landowners. The goal was to create a large, developable site with deepwater access, suitable infrastructure and a readily available workforce, positioning the area for significant industrial growth, particularly in the energy and manufacturing sectors.
The new RPCC Donaldsonville Workforce Training Center, a partnership between the state, parish, and River Parishes Community College (RPCC), will train a skilled workforce for local industries, including the new Hyundai Steel plant. RPCC will begin construction next year on the $35 million training facility, conveniently located near the RiverPlex site.
Meet the New Investors
After 12 years of groundwork, considerable infrastructure investment and lots of marketing, RiverPlex landed two of the South’s biggest deals in the first half of 2025. On March 24, Hyundai Steel announced it would build a $5.8 billion steel manufacturing plant at this site. On April 8, CF Industries Holdings, the world’s largest producer of ammonia, joined with partners to announce a $4 billion investment into creating a low-carbon ammonia production facility in the same industrial park.
“Cleaner technologies are the focus of the future,” MacArthur says. “There is a lot of carbon capture and sequestration activity in Louisiana. With about a half billion dollars in infrastructure that will be added to this park in the next few years, we are bringing new opportunities to the west side of the parish.”
Hyundai’s ultra-low carbon steel production plant will be built on a 1,700-acre site in RiverPlex on the west bank. The Korean steel maker says it plans to hire more than 1,300 workers at an average annual wage of $95,000. Another 4,100 indirect jobs will be supported by the plant throughout the Capital Region.
Location of Ascension Parish in Louisiana and location of RiverPlex MegaPark in the parish.
Source: AEDC
Taek-Joon Kim, vice president of North America Steel Business Strategy Planning Group for Hyundai Steel in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, says, “Hyundai Steel selected Louisiana following a rigorous, data-driven evaluation across multiple states. What made Louisiana stand out was its unmatched ability to support our vision of establishing a state-of-the-art automotive steel mill focused on low-carbon emissions production in North America.”
At the Hyundai announcement, President Donald Trump remarked that “Hyundai chose a fantastic state to do business.”
Kim cited location advantages including: “Excellent multimodal logistics — with highway, rail and deepwater port access — for efficient delivery to OEMs; reliable, large-scale energy supply, essential for operating both the Direct Reduction Plant (DRP) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF); and a collaborative, pro-business environment led by state and local officials.”
CF Industries, meanwhile, will build a $4 billion ammonia plant that will be the largest such facility in the world. It creates 103 direct jobs at an average yearly salary of $110,000, plus 311 indirect jobs. Morris Johnson, general manager of CF’s Blue Point Complex in Ascension Parish, calls the project “very significant for the parish and Louisiana. Reliable, low-cost production of low-carbon ammonia will come online in 2029.”
Just nine years ago, CF Industries announced a $2.5 billion expansion that was the largest ever in parish history. “We continue to expand in Ascension Parish because its workforce is number one,” says Johnson. “This is a highly industrialized area. We can attract good talent. There is a long history of people working in chemical manufacturing here, and there is a strong base of people eager to work.”
‘This is What Winning Looks Like’
An ideal location sealed the deal. “This is in a unique area of the country with natural and built assets that businesses are looking for — rail, road, port and workforce,” says Johnson. “Plus, it has a welcoming business climate that supports business development and growth.”
CF’s joint venture partners include JERA Company Inc., Japan’s largest energy company, and Mitsui & Company Inc., a top global investor.
“This is the kind of win we work toward every day, bringing meaningful, lasting opportunities to the areas that need them most,” says MacArthur. “It’s a sign that our economy is on the rise and that clean energy innovation is happening in our backyard.”
With Hyundai and CF Industries using just 16% of the land in RiverPlex, plenty of parcels remain available for future development, notes MacArthur.
As Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said following the two announcements, “This is what winning looks like.”
This Investment Profile was prepared under the auspices of the Ascension Economic Development Corporation. For more information, go to ascensionedc.com or contact Kate MacArthur at kmacarthur@ascensionedc.com.
