POTUS unveils $18b US steel investment by India’s Essar Group ‘Mined, melted, made’ in America

• Essar Group announces $18 billion US investment.
• $15 billion steel complex planned in Iowa.
• Plant targets production of 10 million tonnes annually.
• Project could create thousands of jobs across the US.

By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Indian conglomerate Essar Group on Wednesday announced that it has committed $18 billion to build an integrated steel business in the United States, with a $15 billion plant planned in Iowa that President Donald Trump said will become the largest steel facility in the American history.

The Iowa facility is expected to begin steel production around 2030 and will use iron ore from Mesabi Metallics’ Minnesota operations as Essar builds an integrated American supply chain, according to the company and the US officials.

The investment will connect Mesabi Metallics’ iron ore operations in Minnesota with the new Iowa steel complex.

Once fully developed, the plant is expected to produce as much as 10 million tonnes of steel annually, creating a US supply chain stretching from mine to mill.

Trump unveiled the project at the White House alongside executives from Mesabi Metallics and members of his administration.

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

The broader investment comprises the planned Iowa steel complex as well as Essar’s mining operations in Minnesota.

Mesabi Metallics Chairman Rewant Ruia described the project as a return to a country where he had spent much of his life after being born in India and studying in New York, Boston and California.

He called the investment “a true homecoming”.

Ruia thanked Trump “for bringing back the importance of building things in America” and said the new complex would complete an integrated domestic supply chain “from mine to mill”.

Essar co-founder Ravi Ruia said he and his late brother Shashi Ruia had built the group as a family business focused on creating industrial assets, including steel plants, refineries and power projects.

The Ruias put the overall US commitment at roughly $18 billion.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick cited a combined figure of about $17.5 billion for the mine and steel complex.

The White House announcement also gave Trump another platform to defend his tariff-led trade policy.

Trump and members of his administration directly linked the Essar-backed investment to the 50% US tariffs imposed on foreign steel.

Lutnick said the mine and steel plant would not have been built without those tariffs.

Trump made the same argument, saying companies were setting up manufacturing operations in the United States “because they don’t want to pay tariffs”.

Essar Group, the investment effectively puts production inside the US market rather than relying on steel exports to reach American customers.

The tariffs have also affected overseas steel producers, including exporters from India.

The Iowa facility will source raw material from Mesabi Metallics’ iron ore operations in Minnesota.

Trump described the Minnesota project as the first new US iron ore mine in more than 50 years and emphasized the domestic nature of the proposed supply chain.

“In other words, this steel will be mined, melted, and made right here in the USA, which is something very unusual,” he said.

Steel production at the Iowa complex is expected to begin around 2030. At full capacity, the facility is planned to produce about 10 million tonnes annually.

The project is expected to support up to 6,000 construction jobs as well as thousands of permanent manufacturing and mining positions.

Trump also said the venture could contribute $95 billion to the US economy over the coming decade.

“This is a tremendous investment. And it’s going to be over the next 10 years using advanced steelmaking technology,” he said.

“The plant will produce some of the highest quality, most affordable steel anywhere in the world. They’re going to be making it here and using it here and also shipping it outside and do very well.”

Essar has operated in Minnesota since 2007, when it acquired Minnesota Steel and access to extensive iron ore resources in the state.

The group founded by brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia in 1969, has built businesses across steel, energy and infrastructure during its five-decade history.

Its industrial portfolio has included the 10-million-tonne Hazira steel facility in Gujarat, the Vadinar refinery in India and the Stan low refinery in the United Kingdom.

The group has also pursued plans for a low-carbon steel project in Saudi Arabia.

The new US investment now extends that strategy on a much larger scale, linked American raw material with planned steel production in Iowa, the company stated