ArcelorMittal to triple iron-ore production in Liberia
ArcelorMittal signed an agreement on Friday to stay for at least 25 more years in Liberia, where it will at least triple its iron-ore production and invest an additional $800-million, the company's executive chairman and Liberia's president said.
Annual production will increase to 15-million tonnes during a first phase of expansion and could rise as high as 30-million tonnes, ArcelorMittal executive chairman Lakshmi Mittal said at the signing ceremony.
The steel and mining company first signed a 25-year deal with Liberia in 2005 and shipped the first iron-ore from its Yekepa mine in 2011.
It had been aiming to expand output to 15-million tonnes much sooner, but those plans were put on hold in 2014 when it declared force majeure on the expansion project because of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Liberian President George Weah said production would hit 15-million tonnes within the next three years and that the government would receive a total of $65-million from ArcelorMittal.
The project is expected to create 1 000 direct jobs, 2 000 temporary construction-related jobs and about 4 000 indirect jobs, Weah said.
"The government considers you an important ally in its drive to accelerate the growth of our economy under our national development plan," Weah told Mittal.
Liberia, with huge mining and agriculture potential, has attracted billions of dollars in resource investment since the end of a 1989 to 2003 civil war, but its infrastructure remains underdeveloped and most of its five-million people live in poverty.
Weah said the deal, which is an amendment to the existing agreement, still needs to be approved by his cabinet and the parliament.
Comments
Research Reports
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Since 1919, Victaulic’s innovative solutions and design services continue to increase construction productivity and reduce risk, ensuring projects...
VISIT SHOWROOM
At SMS group, we have made it our mission to create a carbon-neutral and sustainable metals industry.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
