Trump announces Essar’s $15 billion Iowa steel plant, calls it one of world’s largest

New Delhi: India’s Essar Group is set to make a major push into US steelmaking with a planned $18 billion investment, including a $15 billion steel plant in Iowa. Announcing the project at the White House, the United States president, Donald Trump, called it the “largest steel plant in American history” and said it would be one of the largest plants in the world.

The project is expected to begin production in 2030 and eventually produce around 10 million tonnes of steel a year. More importantly, it will connect Essar’s existing iron ore operations in Minnesota with steel production in Iowa, allowing the company to build an integrated supply chain within the United States.

That makes the project significant beyond its size. The US has been trying to expand domestic steel production, particularly for sectors such as defence, automobiles, shipbuilding, energy and infrastructure. The White House said the entire steel production process linked to the project would take place in the US.

Mesabi Metallics, Essar’s US subsidiary, will develop the Iowa facility. The company already operates in Minnesota, where it acquired Minnesota Steel in 2007 and controls more than 1.4 billion tonnes of iron ore resources. The Minnesota operations are expected to provide the raw material for the new Iowa plant.

For Essar, the project represents a major expansion of its American business. It also gives an Indian industrial group a larger role in a strategically important US industry at a time when Washington is encouraging companies to manufacture more within the country.

Essar was founded by brothers Shashi Ruia and Ravi Ruia in 1969 and has grown from an Indian business into a multinational industrial group with interests in steel, energy and mining. Its overseas assets include the Stanlow refinery in the UK, while it is also planning a low-carbon steel plant in Saudi Arabia.

The Iowa project will therefore add another major industrial operation to Essar’s international portfolio while building on assets it already has in the US. The Mesabi Metallics CEO, Joe Broking, said the steel produced by the facility would support industries including US national defence, cars and trucks, shipbuilding, household appliances, energy and infrastructure.

Trump linked the investment to his administration’s push to revive American steel manufacturing and said the 50 per cent tariffs on imported steel had encouraged companies to build production facilities in the United States. The Mesabi Metallics chairman, Rewant Ruia, meanwhile, thanked the president for his focus on American manufacturing.

The announcement also came as Iowa gains attention ahead of the 2026 US midterm elections, with Trump planning to campaign in the state and several Iowa Republican politicians attending the White House event.