The Steel Workers Union of Trinidad and Tobago, SWUTT, is looking to buy ArcelorMittal’s Point Lisas mill, which was shut down in March this year, following the dismissal of 644 workers.
According to a local media report, the union is “putting together” a group of investors to buy the steelmaker and resume operations. Christopher Henry, president of SWUTT, said buyers should be “shareholders, not owners,” of the plant and it would make a “wider range of products” than ArcelorMittal used to produce.
The union leader said world steel prices are slightly improving. According to local press, there are “at least” three potential investors interested in buying the mill. Henry is expected to meet with the country’s prime minister Keith Rowley to outline the potential acquisition.
ArcelorMittal attributed the mill’s shutdown to a “combination of local and international challenges…despite the company's considerable efforts to avoid the closure of the iron and steel facility.”
The Trinidadbased facility was idled in November 23, 2015; 480 workers were temporarily laid off as the company “worked to find an alternative solution to closing the plant.”
ArcelorMittal said at the time the mill’s shutdown was the “last resort” it found to the struggling subsidiary.