WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump announced plans on Monday for a gigantic steel plant in Iowa that the White House is touting as the largest in American history.
The nearly $15 billion Mesabi Metallics steel plant is expected to be a major new investment in the state, with the administration touting it as proof Trump’s economic agenda is returning manufacturing to the U.S.
Trump made the announcement from the Oval Office, joined by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, National Energy Dominance Council Executive Director Jarrod Agen and Export-Import Bank Chairman John Jovanovic. The outlet reports that Mesabi Metallics Chairman Rewant Ruia, board member Prashant Ruia and CEO Joe Broking will also be in attendance.
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The new steel plant is expected to bring 1,750 permanent jobs to the state, as well as 5,000 to 6,000 construction jobs during the build phase. According to Fox News, the facility will be built using iron ore from the company’s new mine in Minnesota.
The White House said the Mesabi Metallics plant is expected to produce 7.5 million tons of steel annually in the project’s first phase, before reaching 10 million tons per year. This would make the plant the largest ever built in the U.S.
With 10 million tons of production annually, the plant would equate to outputting around one-tenth of what the entire U.S. steel industry produced last year, the White House told the outlet.
President Trump is delivering on his promise to rebuild American industry, reshore manufacturing, and create new jobs,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox ahead of the announcement. “Today’s announcement underscores the President’s historic efforts to revitalize the U.S. steel industry—supporting local communities, strengthening supply chains, and protecting our national security. After decades of decline, this President is restoring America’s industrial competitiveness and securing trillions of dollars in new investment.”
Using iron ore from the Minnesota mine, the Iowa plant would create a fully domestic supply chain. The administration also shared that the new plant can produce high-grade steel used to meet defense-sector requirements, strengthening the domestic supply chain of materials used by the U.S. military and other critical infrastructure.
The White House says the first phase of the steel plant and Minnesota mine represents nearly $18 billion of investment, and it estimates the first phase will generate around $95 billion in economic activity as construction gets underway and the plant enters its first decade of operation.
It is important to note the project’s timeline, with Mesabi Metallics saying it does not expect the Iowa plant to produce its first steel until 2030.
With the Minnesota mine, commercial pellet production has not yet begun, but a recent SEC filing reveals Mesabi Metallics expects production in the fourth quarter of 2026, with a commercial production timeline coming shortly after in the next eight to 12 months.
According to the White House, the Minnesota mine will produce 7.5 million tons each year and create 350 permanent jobs.
The Trump administration has already announced hundreds of billions in planned investments from around the globe, as it touts the president’s economic policy of pushing for companies to build inside the U.S. by using tariffs ahead of the midterms.
Last year, President Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50%.
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