ArcelorMittal Point Lisas Steel Mill Revival Plan Fails at the First Hurdle

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The attempt to revive ArcelorMittal’s idled steel plant in Point Lisas Industrial Estate, Trinidad and Tobago has reportedly ended in a failure. The recent meeting convened by the Couva/ Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce at its Camden Road, Couva offices last Friday was declared a failure after stakeholders and creditors failed to reach a consensus on restart plan. As per sources, a second meeting is expected to be held soon.

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Ramchand Rajbal Maraj, President, Chamber of Commerce said that the Chamber had received several request from members, mainly creditors, to host a forum in order to facilitate an open discussion with regards to the current situation of the plant and the possible way forward. The meeting was attended by the Steel Workers Union. Also Unanan Persad represented Macarri Steel Holdings Ltd., which has been optimistic from the beginning about a possible restart of the plant. However, the meeting could not reach an agreement, due to the absence of receiver.

Earlier in May this year, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, following meetings with investors, had stated that the plant is likely to be back in operation soon.

The Point Lisas steel plant was idled in March 2016, citing increased competition from low-costs imports originating from China and Turkey. The winding up of the plant operations had resulted in 644 job losses.