[UPDATED] Arcelor Mital Steel plant sold to Trinidad and Tobago Steel Co.

File photo of the entrance to the ArcelorMittal steel plant in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. PHOTO BY JEFF K MAYERS
File photo of the entrance to the ArcelorMittal steel plant in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. PHOTO BY JEFF K MAYERS

THE TT Iron Steel Company Ltd has signed a sales and purchase agreement to aquire the ArcelorMittal Point Lisas iron and steel plant at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate in Couva.

In a statement, TT Iron announced that it will begin refurbishing the plant over the next 24 months at a cost of TT$ 1-1.4 billion (US$150-200 million).

“The plant is one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest steel mills pairing low carbon emission, natural gas based Direct Reduced Iron technology with Electric Arc Furnaces for steelmaking.”

In the statement, founder and Group CEO Gus Hiller said there was great potential for the plant to return to the forefront of global steel making.

“We are confident we will be able to bring on stream and operate an efficient, cutting-edge steel mill.”

He also said production should begin within the next year to year and a half.

The company said the refurbishment phase should provide close to 1,000 jobs and, when fully operational, should create long-term employment for 500 skilled workers.

“TT Iron believes that the restart of the plant will indirectly create many more jobs, for instance, through maintenance and construction services, port services, downstream manufacturing etc.”

TT Iron also said its plant, using natural gas in its furnaces, would reduce its carbon intensity to 0.4 tonnes of carbond dioxide (CO2) per tonne of steel produced; as compared to traditional coal-blast furnaces that emit 2.0 to 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel.

“The plant historically used natural gas, however, TT Iron intends to transition to green hydrogen in the coming years as it becomes commercially available.”

Gopee-Scoon: Steel company sale good for value chain

Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon told Newsday the sale of ArcelorMittal was a signal that TT continued to be a preferred destination for investment.

Responding to questions from Newsday on Wednesday, she said the sale meant new investment, increased employment and a number of new opportunities.

She added that the re-opening of the plant would be timely for the scrap-iron industry, as the government continued in its efforts to make it a legitimate industry.

“It would allow for the further development and integration of the scrap-metal industry in the value chain, and facilitate the production of higher value-added products.”

“In fact, there is an opportunity for both backward and forward linkages along the value chain as the production of iron and steel would utilise a particular grade of scrap as inputs as well as generate scrap in its production process.

Christopher Kelshall, liquidator of ArcelorMittal's assets in TT, said he could not disclose the amount the plant was sold for, he said TT Iron was among several that bid for the plant but was the one that had got the furthest in the acquisition process.

In 2019 it was reported that another company, Aeternus Steel Holdings – a joint venture between a local company and Dubai investors – won the bid. But Kelshall said the company never got through in completing the sales purchase agreement.

A 2019 report said stakeholders and investors came to an impasse while discussing efforts to revive the plant.

“Aeternus was a preferred bidder but they could not reach the point of sale,” Kelshall said.

Steel Workers Union: We are in the dark

A surprised president of the Steel Workers Union Timothy Bailey said he was unaware of the sale of the plant, and expressed concern over whether any of the stakeholders involved in the plant’s sale thought of the 644 permanent workers who were terminated without severance.

He questioned the arrangements made in the sale and wondered, as he clamied the furloughed workers would have been considered as creditors, if they would be getting a fair slice of the pie.

“We do not want a scenario where our members are left heartbroken again because we had people work for more than 30 years and one Friday morning they were told that the company said it was closing down and they gave them nothing.”

Repeating an accusation that Attorney General Reginald Armour had a hand to play in allowing the multi-million dollar company to exit the country without paying severance to hundreds of workers, Bailey said it was the government’s responsibility to ensure that something like that never happened again.

“We had three workers in that industry for decades who committed suicide because of the closure of the plant. We had homes destroyed – husbands and wives going their separate ways – because banks foreclosed on their houses. We had students who were kicked out of university because their parents could not support them going to school, and hundreds of other horror stories.”

“Any responsible and caring government would ensure that, coming out of that scenario, legislation would have been changed.”

In 2016, ArcellorMittal closed the doors to its plant in Point Lisas industrial estate amid plummeting international steel prices.

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

THE TT Iron Steel Company Limited has signed a sales and purchase agreement to acquire the Arcelor Mittal Point Lisas iron and steel plant at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate in Couva.

The company announced its acquisition in a release, saying it will begin refurbishing the plant over the next 24 months at a cost of TT$ 1-1.4 billion (US$150-200 million).

“The plant is one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest steel mills pairing low carbon emission, natural gas based direct reduced iron technology with electric arc furnaces for steelmaking,” the release said.

Founder and Group CEO Gus Hiller said there was great potential for the plant to return to the forefront of global steel making.

“We are confident we will be able to bring on stream and operate an efficient, cutting-edge steel mill,” he said.

He said production should begin within 12 to 18 months.

The release said the refurbishment phase should provide close to 1,000 jobs and when fully operational should create long-term employment for 500 skilled workers.

“TT Iron believes that the restart of the plant will indirectly create many more jobs for instance through maintenance and construction services, port services, downstream manufacturing etc,” the release said.

TT Iron said using natural gas in its furnaces will reduce the plant’s carbon intensity to 0.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel produced; as compared to traditional coal-blast furnaces that emit 2.0 to 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel.

“The plant historically used natural gas however TT Iron intends to transition to green hydrogen in the coming years as it becomes commercially available,” the release said.

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"[UPDATED] Arcelor Mital Steel plant sold to Trinidad and Tobago Steel Co."

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