The chief executive officer of the US-based Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Company, Edwin Bennet, says the refurbishment of the former ArcelorMittal steel facility, is aimed at transforming Trinidad and Tobago into a major producer of vanadium.
‘Our vision for this facility is that it will be one of the most technologically advanced, lowest cost, and environmentally friendly steel mills in the world, putting Trinidad on the map not only as a steel producer, as a critical minerals producer, but as on the forefront, the leading edge of steel production technology,’ he told the ribbon cutting ceremony that was also attended by United States Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau.
He said that the initial investment in the Ibis Steel Company at Point Lisas in central Trinidad, on the site of the former ArcelorMittal plant, which closed in 2016 is planned at US$250 million.
‘We think we’ll create 350 jobs during the restart of the facility and when we’re in production 500 full-time jobs and after an expansion in the future we plan to spend another US$500 million and double the number of jobs so to 1,000.
‘So that will take a long time, but we have, I think, a lot that we’re bringing to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and we’re excited to spend the next several years investing and creating those opportunities,’ he added.
He said his company intends to produce at the plant here, vanadium, a critical metal much in demand in the United States and the EU for the aerospace industry, for batteries, and for the steel industry.
‘Our vision is to produce the equivalent of 50 per cent of American consumption of vanadium, in other words 100 per cent of the quantity of vanadium that the United States imports,’ he told the ceremony adding that the vanadium industry is dominated by China and Russia, accounting for more than 80 per cent of all vanadium produced by these two countries.
‘So we look at this as a critical asset for western critical mineral supply chains, putting Trinidad on the map as a key player in the western re-industrialisation and western creation of critical mineral supply chains outside of China.
‘So we bring that vision to this facility which is a unique facility that has the capability to do that and we’re excited to be able to bring the technology and the expertise to lever the equipment here and the people of Trinidad and Tobago to work together to build something that is, as I said before, new, exceeds the capabilities that were ever conceived of for this facility in the past.’
Bennet said that his company has set ‘ambitious targets not only in terms of what we can do but what we’re going to bring to the table for the people of Trinidad’ adding ‘we’re very excited to open the gates with you today and officially kick off the refurbishment of the facility’.
He said the company is planning first production by the end of 2027.