A South Korean defence company, Hanwha, has announced that it will use steel made at Algoma’s Sault Ste. Marie plant to build armoured weaponized military vehicles in Canada. The deal is contingent on Hanwha winning the lucrative bid to build Canada’s next generation submarine fleet. The prime minister says the winner will be announced by the end of June, ahead of the start of the CUSMA review beginning on July 1.
In a news release on June 1, Hanwha said Algoma Steel is now part of a “landmark partnership” between Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) and South Korea’s Hanwha to produce a new range of industrial and military vehicles in Canada for domestic and global markets.
The partnership will use “Canadian workers and ‘Made in Canada’ parts” and steel.
Today’s announcement by Hanwha builds on an April memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with the APMA. The two entities announced that they will work together to build five types of military vehicles in Canada such as the Howitzer K9.
The MOU created a consortium called Project Arrow Defense, which would have 51 per cent Canadian ownership.
The Canadian Armed Forces needs 250 armoured vehicles for use in the Arctic and to meet its NATO obligations.
Under the MOU, Project Arrow Defence would build those vehicles in its plants and could potentially help manufacture weapon systems for its other global customers.
Hanwha officials say they currently have thousands of orders for armoured vehicles from six other NATO countries.
Previous to this announcement, Hanwha also revealed that it would provide Algoma steel with a low interest loan to convert its facility into one that can make steel beams.
This announcement comes days after Germany said that it would buy one million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada.
The federal government has been clear to both the German submarine bidder TKMS and Hanwha, that it wanted measures to bolster the domestic automotive, steel and aluminum industries that have been hard hit by U.S tariffs.
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