ArcelorMittal's Idled Point Lisas Steel Plant to Restart Soon

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The idled ArcelorMittal steel plant in Pt Lisas, Trinidad & Tobago is likely to restart operations. This was announced by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in Parliament following his meetings with new investors. According to him, it has been agreed between local investors and union to restart some operations at the idled plant.

According to the Prime Minister, more details on the restart could not be made at this point of time, as the matter is now between liquidator and private sector investors. However, he assured full support from government’s side.

Earlier this month, it was reported that a joint venture between local company Integrus Group and a group of Dubai investors had won the bid for the shuttered plant. This was the second round of bid, following the exit of the successful bidder of the first round, due to prolonged delay in obtaining necessary approvals from government authorities.

The press release issued by the joint venture, Aeternus Steel Holdings Ltd, had expressed interest in re-commissioning the plant.

Luxembourg-headquartered ArcelorMittal had announced closure of its Point Lisas steel plant in March 2016, citing increased competition from low-costs imports originating from China and Turkey. Alongside, the plant operations were impacted by escalated utility payments, taxes and port fees. The net losses zoomed to $281 million in 2015, as compared with $44 million in 2014. Consequently, the management decided to wind up the plant operations, thereby resulting in 644 job losses.