THE TT Iron Steel Company Limited has signed a sales and purchase agreement to acquire the Arcelor Mittal Point Lisas iron and steel plant at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate in Couva.

The company announced its acquisition in a release, saying it will begin refurbishing the plant over the next 24 months at a cost of TT$ 1-1.4 billion (US$150-200 million).

“The plant is one of the Western Hemisphere’s largest steel mills pairing low carbon emission, natural gas based direct reduced iron technology with electric arc furnaces for steelmaking,” the release said.

Founder and Group CEO Gus Hiller said there was great potential for the plant to return to the forefront of global steel making.

“We are confident we will be able to bring on stream and operate an efficient, cutting-edge steel mill,” he said.

He said production should begin within 12 to 18 months.

The release said the refurbishment phase should provide close to 1,000 jobs and when fully operational should create long-term employment for 500 skilled workers.

“TT Iron believes that the restart of the plant will indirectly create many more jobs for instance through maintenance and construction services, port services, downstream manufacturing etc,” the release said.

TT Iron said using natural gas in its furnaces will reduce the plant’s carbon intensity to 0.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel produced; as compared to traditional coal-blast furnaces that emit 2.0 to 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel.

“The plant historically used natural gas however TT Iron intends to transition to green hydrogen in the coming years as it becomes commercially available,” the release said.

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