Essar Group, through its US subsidiary Mesabi Metallics, will invest USD 18 bn to build what has been described as the largest steel plant in American history in Iowa. The announcement was made at the White House by US President Donald Trump, alongside Essar Group co-founder Ravi Ruia and Mesabi Metallics chairman Rewant Ruia.

The Iowa facility will form part of an integrated domestic supply chain, with iron ore supplied from a new extraction project in Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. The Minnesota venture involves an investment of USD 3 bn and is intended to become the first new iron ore mine in the United States in more than 50 years.

Rewant Ruia said the project had personal significance for him because he was born in India but completed his high school education in New York, attended college in Boston and earned an MBA in California. He described the investment as a homecoming and said the company would soon produce Patriot Pellet products for the US market.

The projects are aligned with the Trump administration’s focus on rebuilding domestic industrial capacity. The Iowa plant is expected to use ore mined in Minnesota and process it into steel within the United States, creating a vertically integrated production chain with domestic raw materials and manufacturing.

The investment comes as the US maintains higher duties on imported steel. Trump first imposed a 25 per cent tariff on most foreign steel imports during his initial term, while the current administration has raised the levy on most incoming foreign steel to 50 per cent. The administration has said the measures are encouraging international companies to establish production facilities in the US to avoid import costs.

US steel industry associations have supported the tariff policy and recently urged the White House not to weaken the measures. The Essar project adds to a wider flow of capital into domestic steel production as companies seek to serve the American market from facilities located within the country.