SeAH Superalloy Technologies joins America Makes ahead of H2 2026 launch of $153M Texas superalloy powder plant

SeAH Superalloy Technologies (SST), the US specialty-alloy subsidiary of SeAH Besteel Holdings, has joined America Makes, the Department of Defense-affiliated additive manufacturing research consortium operated under the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining. Membership positions SST to collaborate with industry, academia and government on nickel-based superalloy powder development and standardization for aerospace and defense AM applications. The move follows SST's roughly 213 billion won ($153 million) investment in a 6,000-ton-per-year specialty alloy and powder plant in Temple, Texas, which has completed commissioning ahead of commercial production in the second half of 2026.

Temple sits near Fort Worth, home to SpaceX and Lockheed Martin supply chains, positioning SST to bid into aerospace and defense AM programs once output ramps. Membership in America Makes functions as a credibility gate for powder suppliers seeking qualification with US primes: the consortium's working groups help set the specifications and test protocols that new superalloy suppliers must clear before defense-grade powder gets specified into programs at all. For SeAH, an established steelmaker without a US-branded AM track record, the move reads as an attempt to shorten that qualification distance by embedding into the standards process early rather than pitching finished powder cold. Once Temple ramps, SST expects more than 200 billion won ($144 million) in annual revenue, a figure that hinges on clearing qualification hurdles as much as on production capacity.