By La Caribeña News · 15 August 2026
The plant at Point Lisas has been sold twice and restarted never since it closed in 2016. The third attempt began on 10 August with a ribbon-cutting, an American cabinet-rank guest, and no announced supply of the one input the plant cannot run without.
Ibis Steel Company of Trinidad and Tobago, a subsidiary of the United States company Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation, marked the start of refurbishment at the site. The United States Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, attended, alongside the Minister of Works, Jearlean John. Pinnacle's chief executive is Edwin Bennett.
What was announced is the beginning of refurbishment, not the resumption of production. First output is targeted for the end of 2027.
What has been committed?
A figure that grew fivefold in four weeks.
At the ceremony the investment was given as US$250 million in a first phase, rising to US$750 million, with 350 jobs during refurbishment, 500 in operation and up to 1,000 after expansion.
The memorandum of understanding signed in mid-July was reported at US$50 million rising to US$150 million. That is a fifth of the figure announced four weeks later. Both numbers are on the record and each belongs to its own moment.
Why does gas decide this?
Because the process is gas.
The plant uses direct reduced iron, a method that reduces iron ore using natural gas rather than coke. Without a gas contract at volume and at tenor, the furnaces are equipment rather than a business.
No gas supply agreement between the National Gas Company and Ibis Steel or Pinnacle has been announced. Nothing in the ceremony coverage, nothing from the company, nothing from the National Gas Company and nothing from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries.
Three things make that silence worth reporting rather than assuming.
The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce asked for exactly this on 11 August, the day after the ceremony, saying the National Gas Company must provide clarity on how supply will be allocated and the criteria guiding those decisions. That is the business community asking a question it would not need to ask if the answer were public.
The gas announced on the same day went elsewhere. The Prime Minister announced that BP would sell 20 per cent of Cocuina-Manakin to the National Gas Company, roughly a trillion cubic feet, with a final investment decision by the end of 2026. The allocation given was 70 per cent to liquefaction and 30 per cent to petrochemicals. Steel was not among them.
And the precedent is documented. In February 2023 the National Gas Company offered the site's previous owner, Trinidad and Tobago Iron and Steel, a two-year term sheet for 9 million standard cubic feet a day rising to 55 million at full operation. That deal died on tenor rather than volume: a two-year contract could not cover the length of the loan, and the bank would not carry the risk.
That term sheet was not offered to Ibis and does not bind it. Its value is what it establishes independently: the National Gas Company's own assessment that a plant on this site needs 55 million standard cubic feet a day, and the fact that the contract length it was prepared to offer was not financeable.
Trinidad's gas position is the reason any of this is difficult. The country has been asking Guyana for hydrocarbons since 2024 without an agreement, and the gas it is closest to securing lies in Venezuelan water under an American licence that names the companies permitted to touch it.
What happened the last time this was promised?
The same promise, two years ago, from the previous owner.
Trinidad and Tobago Iron and Steel took title to the plant in July 2024 from the liquidator, Christopher Kelshall, and said it would restart within twelve months using an electric arc furnace alongside gas-based direct reduction. It did not restart.
That is three owners in three years: ArcelorMittal into liquidation, then Trinidad and Tobago Iron and Steel, now Pinnacle through Ibis. How Pinnacle acquired the plant, on what instrument, on what date and at what price, has not been stated by anyone.
The liquidation of the original company remains open in 2026.
What is still owed?
Severance to 644 people, unpaid for a decade.
ArcelorMittal Point Lisas closed on 11 March 2016 and terminated 644 permanent workers, some with 36 years of service, without compensation. The plant was mothballed the day after the Industrial Court ruled that the workers had to be paid, and after the company was fined for failing to treat with the union.
The severance was never paid. The government was held not liable for it. The Minister of Labour said in 2024 that he was appalled.
The Steel Workers Trade Union was not consulted on the Pinnacle arrangement and learned of it through the media.
A ribbon was cut at Point Lisas on 10 August in front of a visiting American official. The people who were working there when it closed have been waiting since 2016, and the plant has no announced gas.
The data in this article
- Ibis Steel Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation of the United States, chief executive Edwin Bennett, marked the start of refurbishment at the former steel plant at Point Lisas on 10 August 2026. First production is targeted for the end of 2027.
- Attending: the United States Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, and the Minister of Works, Jearlean John.
- Investment announced at the ceremony: US$250 million in a first phase rising to US$750 million; 350 refurbishment jobs, 500 operational, up to 1,000 after expansion. The mid-July memorandum of understanding was reported at US$50 million rising to US$150 million.
- The plant uses direct reduced iron, which reduces iron ore using natural gas.
- No gas supply agreement between the National Gas Company and Ibis Steel or Pinnacle has been announced by any party.
- On 11 August 2026 the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce said the National Gas Company must provide clarity on how supply will be allocated and the criteria guiding those decisions.
- On 10 August 2026 the Prime Minister announced BP would sell 20 per cent of Cocuina-Manakin to the National Gas Company, approximately one trillion cubic feet, with a final investment decision by the end of 2026, allocated 70 per cent to liquefaction and 30 per cent to petrochemicals.
- In February 2023 the National Gas Company offered Trinidad and Tobago Iron and Steel, the site's previous owner, a two-year term sheet for 9 million standard cubic feet a day rising to 55 million at full operation. The arrangement failed because the two-year term did not cover the length of the loan and the bank would not accept the risk. That term sheet was not offered to Ibis Steel.
- Trinidad and Tobago Iron and Steel took title in July 2024 from the liquidator Christopher Kelshall and said it would restart within twelve months using an electric arc furnace with gas-based direct reduction. It did not restart. How Pinnacle acquired the plant, on what instrument, date or price, has not been stated.
- ArcelorMittal Point Lisas closed on 11 March 2016, terminating 644 permanent workers without compensation, some with 36 years of service. The plant was mothballed the day after the Industrial Court ruled the workers must be paid, and after the company was fined for failing to treat with the union. Severance was never paid and the government was held not liable. The liquidation remains open in 2026.
- The Steel Workers Trade Union was not consulted on the Pinnacle arrangement and learned of it through the media.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is reopening the Point Lisas steel plant? Ibis Steel Company of Trinidad and Tobago, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation of the United States. Refurbishment began on 10 August 2026 and first production is targeted for the end of 2027.
Has a gas supply agreement been announced? No. No agreement between the National Gas Company and Ibis Steel or Pinnacle has been announced by the company, the National Gas Company or the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries. The plant's process depends on natural gas.
How much gas would the plant need? The National Gas Company's own 2023 term sheet to the previous owner was for 9 million standard cubic feet a day rising to 55 million at full operation. That offer was made to a different company and does not bind the current owner.
Why did the previous restart fail? On contract length rather than volume. The two-year term the National Gas Company offered did not cover the length of the loan, and the bank would not accept the risk.
What happened to the workers who lost their jobs in 2016? 644 permanent workers were terminated without compensation when ArcelorMittal Point Lisas closed on 11 March 2016. Severance was never paid, the government was held not liable, and the liquidation remains open. The Steel Workers Trade Union was not consulted on the current arrangement.