Essar-backed Mesabi Metallics Announces $18 Billion US Steel Investment

Essar-backed Mesabi Metallics has announced an $18 billion investment to build an integrated steel business in the United States, linking its iron ore operations in Minnesota with a proposed steel complex in Iowa.

The announcement was made at the White House on September 28, with US President Donald Trump and senior US officials joining Essar Group Vice Chairman and Founder Ravi Ruia and Mesabi Metallics Chairman Rewant Ruia. The investment comprises a proposed $15 billion steel complex in Iowa and around $3 billion already invested in the company’s Minnesota iron ore mine and pelletising operations.

The Iowa project is planned as an integrated steelmaking facility that will use iron ore supplied from Mesabi Metallics’ mine on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. The company says the approach will create a domestic mine-to-mill supply chain, with iron ore mined, processed and converted into steel within the United States.

The White House said the Iowa mill is expected to produce 7.5 million tonnes of steel annually in its first phase, with capacity eventually reaching about 10 million tonnes a year. The project is expected to support at least 1,750 permanent jobs and thousands of construction positions.

Mesabi Metallics recently began operations at what company and US officials describe as the first new iron ore mine in the country in 50 years. Located in Nashwauk, Minnesota, the operation is designed to produce direct-reduction-grade iron ore pellets for modern steelmaking.

The proposed Iowa complex will use direct reduced iron (DRI) and electric arc furnace (EAF) technologies. The company says combining hot DRI with EAF steelmaking will reduce energy requirements and emissions compar4ed with conventional coal-fired blast furnace production.

For Essar Group, the project marks a major expansion of its presence in the global steel industry. Ravi Ruia said the investment builds on the group’s experience across the steel value chain, while Mesabi Metallics Chairman Rewant Ruia described the development as a step toward establishing a fully integrated American steel business.

The project is also expected to have a wider economic impact. Mesabi Metallics estimates that its investment could generate $95 billion in economic output across Iowa and the wider Midwest during construction and the first decade of operations.

The development will connect Minnesota’s iron ore resources with large-scale steelmaking in Iowa, creating an integrated supply chain aimed at serving US industrial demand.