US President Donald Trump has announced that Indian conglomerate Essar Group, through its US subsidiary Mesabi Metallics, will invest about $18 billion in a major steel plant in Iowa, describing it as the largest steel plant in American history.
Trump made the announcement at the White House alongside Essar Group co-founder Ravi Ruia and Mesabi Metallics chairman Rewant Ruia, calling it one of the largest plants in the world and by far the largest in the United States. The facility is expected to produce 10 million tonnes of steel annually once fully operational, with production targeted to begin in 2030. The project is expected to create thousands of construction jobs and nearly 2,000 permanent positions across steel and mining operations.
The Iowa plant will form part of an integrated US supply chain, with iron ore sourced from a new mine being developed by Mesabi Metallics in Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. The company has invested about $2.5 billion in the mine, which is expected to produce around 7.5 million tonnes of iron annually and create roughly 350 jobs.
Rewant Ruia said he was born in India but had studied in New York, Boston and California, and had spent half his life in the US, describing the investment as “a true homecoming.” He said the project would establish a fully integrated supply chain “from mine to mill” and thanked the president for prioritising domestic manufacturing in America.
Trump highlighted the domestic nature of the project, noting that the Minnesota mine would be the first new iron ore mine in the United States in more than 50 years, producing what he described as the highest quality ore. He said the steel would be “mined, melted, and made right here in the USA,” calling it unusual for a project of this scale.
Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick attributed the investment partly to the administration’s steel tariffs, with Trump saying companies were choosing to build in the US to avoid paying tariffs. Rewant Ruia added that the plant would use advanced technology and would compete directly with any steel plant in the world on size, quality and cost.
(Source: The Times of India)
