India’s Essar Group to invest $18 billion to build steel plant in US, Trump calls it ‘largest’ in American history

US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) announced that Indian multinational conglomerate Essar Group, through its subsidiary Mesabi Metallics, will invest USD 18 billion to build what he described as the “largest steel plant” in American history in the state of Iowa.

In an announcement from the Oval Office at the White House, Trump said he was ‘thrilled to announce’ the plant, which he said would produce 10 million tonnes of steel a year. That is a fraction of India’s annual output but would make it one of the biggest single-site mills in the US. 

“Today we are thrilled to announce that Mesabi Metallics will be building the largest steel plant in American history in the great state of Iowa. It is the largest plant, one of the largest plants in the world, but it is the largest plant in America by far,” Trump told reporters.

Essar Group is an Indian conglomerate founded by two brothers, Shashi and Ravi Ruia, with a five-decade operating history.  Its India assets have included India’s largest single-location steel facility (10 MT) in Hazira, Gujarat, and the country’s second-largest single-location refinery in Vadinar. It also acquired Shell’s Stanlow refinery in the UK. Abroad, it has planned a low-carbon steel plant in Saudi Arabia. 

Mesabi Metallics, the company investing here, is Essar’s US arm. Essar has been in Minnesota since 2007, when it bought Minnesota Steel, which controlled over 1.4 billion tons of iron ore resources. 

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