Essar Group's Mesabi Metallics plans $15 billion US steel mill, Trump to unveil the project

US President Donald Trump is set to announce a plan by India's Essar Group-backed Mesabi Metallics to build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The project comes as Trump seeks to counter voter frustration over the economy ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump is expected to unveil the proposal at the White House on Monday, joined by executives from Mesabi Metallics, which recently began preliminary production at the first iron ore mine opened in Minnesota in 50 years, according to the report.

Steelmaking at the Iowa plant could begin in 2030 and support more than 1,700 jobs, a White House official told the newspaper.

$15 Billion Steel Project

Mesabi's proposed mill would be among the largest in the US, with an initial annual production capacity of 7.5 million tons, the report said. Later additions could take that to about 10 million tons a year.

The plant would be built in eastern Iowa, allowing the company to use the Mississippi River to transport iron ore from its Minnesota mine.

Mesabi plans to build facilities at the site to process the ore for use in electric arc furnaces, where it would be combined with scrap steel to produce new steel. The company estimates the two plants will cost about $15 billion.

The mine and steel mill project were first proposed by Essar about two decades ago but faced years of delays and missed deadlines to repay state aid.

The Minnesota mine project filed for bankruptcy about a decade ago. Minnesota later withdrew its iron-ore leases and transferred them to Cleveland-Cliffs, a rival iron ore miner and steelmaker.

Mesabi Metallics emerged from the reorganised company in 2017. It later restarted construction of buildings and equipment at its northern Minnesota site.