CRU: Trinidad talks up revival plan for ex-ArcelorMittal plant

The minister of trade, investment and tourism Kama Maharaj said a production resumption will generate an estimated $1.5 bn (€1.3 bn) a year and create a market for every metric ton of ferrous scrap and the 1.1 million of tires discarded each year in Trinidad and Tobago.

The islands’ government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US companies Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corp for an initial outlay of $50 M which is expected to increase to $150 M.

The potential investment is part of the government’s strategy to diversify the economy beyond oil and gas through export-led growth, Maharaj said.

The president of Greater San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, Kiran Singh, praised the initiative, saying a reopenedsteel mill would create jobs, earn foreign exchange and help address the country’s growing stockpile of scrap metal.

While also welcoming the plan Allan Ferguson, the president of the country’s Scrap Iron Dealers Association, said scrap metal exports must continue to ensure competition, with dealers paid international market prices and protected from unfair pricing.

He cautioned against creation of a monopoly with all scrap metal directed to a single, local buyer. “We cannot agree to supplying all the material to one mill because anytime you remove competition, you leave it open for problems,” he was quoted as saying in local media.

Ferguson also disputed suggestions that a reopened mill would be capable of processing every type of scrap generated locally. The plant was designed to handle mainly heavy scrap and not lighter materials such as thin sheet metal and galvanised products.

“There is no steel mill in the world that takes every single type of scrap,” he said, adding that means some materials would still need to be exported.

Steel Workers Trade Union President Timothy Bailey said it has not been consulted on the proposed project and first learnt of the MoU through media reports.

The union is concerned there had been no discussion on how the proposal would affect the ongoing liquidation process involving the former ArcelorMittal operation, ten years on from closure.

Trinidad and Tobago’s government signed the MoU with Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corp mid-July, after the company had acquired the Point Lisas plant. The pact allows for further talks and due diligence on recommissioning and operating the mill.

ArcelorMittal shut down Point Lisas, which produced direct reduced iron (DRI), billet and wire rod, in 2016 on the grounds its operation was no longer economically viable at a time of low steel prices and global overcapacity. A total of 644 workers lost their jobs.