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Trump announces $15 billion Mesabi Metallics steel plant planned for Iowa

White House officials said the Iowa mill would target 2030 production, draw Iron Range ore, and eventually reach up to 10 million tons of steel a year.

Motion Media News Staff

Sep 28, 2026

3 minutes

Wide view of a large open-pit iron mine with terraced walls and equipment on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range.

Photo: Minnesota Historical Society Heritage Preservation Department, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (file photo; Mesabi Iron Range open-pit mine in Hibbing, not the Mesabi Metallics Nashwauk site) (source)

President Donald Trump said Monday that Mesabi Metallics plans roughly $15 billion of investment in an Iowa steel mill that the White House called the biggest such plant ever built in the United States, CBS News, NBC News, CNBC and The Hill reported after an Oval Office event that began after 2 p.m. ET.

“There’s a company known as Mesabi,” Trump said, according to CBS News. He said the firm would “make a big investment” in Iowa and build what he called “the largest steel plant in American history” in the state.

Mesabi Metallics, based in Nashwauk, Minnesota, and part of India’s Essar Group, told CNBC the project would deliver steel that is “mined, melted and poured in Minnesota and Iowa.” Chief executive Joe Broking and chairman Rewant Ruia joined Trump with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Export-Import Bank Chairman John Jovanovic, the outlets reported. The Wall Street Journal first reported the planned announcement, CBS News, NBC News and CNBC said.

Project details

White House officials told CNBC the first phase is estimated at about 7.5 million tons of steel a year and as many as 6,000 construction jobs, with capacity later rising to 10 million tons a year and at least 1,750 permanent Iowa jobs. NBC News reported officials citing similar permanent-job and full-build tonnage figures. Production is aimed at 2030, according to those briefings. The Hill earlier Monday previewed the same $15 billion figure and Mesabi’s role ahead of the Oval Office event.

Ore is to come from Mesabi’s new Minnesota Iron Range mine, a project of more than $2.5 billion that is starting production after roughly two decades of development, CNBC reported. Trump said it was the first new U.S. iron ore mine in more than 50 years, NBC News reported. A White House official told NBC News the mine is expected to yield about 7.5 million tons of iron a year and about 350 Minnesota jobs.

Mesabi has not named an Iowa city. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the site would be in the southeast part of the state, CBS News reported. Officials told CBS News and NBC News the plant could supply high-grade steel for defense uses, and CBS News quoted a White House official calling it the first “mega” steel plant built in the United States since the 1960s.

NBC News, citing an Export-Import Bank release, said the bank plans financing of as much as $10 billion for Mesabi’s expansion.

Tariffs and politics

Trump linked the project to steel import duties. He said 50% tariffs on foreign steel had brought the industry “roaring back to life,” according to NBC News, which reported that a 50% levy still applies to most steel imports.

Steel industry groups wrote Trump last week urging him to keep the tariffs and arguing they have driven tens of billions of dollars in announced investment, CNBC and NBC News reported. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement quoted by CBS News and CNBC that the administration was delivering on a promise to rebuild American industry and reshore manufacturing.

CBS News noted the timing, less than 40 days before midterms, and said the Des Moines Register reported Iowa lawmakers may be asked to return to consider tax breaks for Mesabi.

What's next

Mesabi has not yet disclosed the Iowa location. Permitting, state incentives and construction schedules were not spelled out Monday. Export-Import Bank financing and any special legislative session would be the next concrete steps reported by the outlets covering the announcement.