[ Mesabi Metallics Launches First New US Iron Ore Mine in 50 Years ]

According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, US domestic raw steel production reached 1.845 million net tons in the week ending September 26, 2026, up 3.4% from the previous week. The national capacity utilization rate simultaneously rose to 80.5%. Adjusted year-to-date production through late September stands at 70.166 million net tons at an average utilization rate of 79.1%, representing a 5.3% volume increase over the same period last year.

Camden, New Jersey, has sued scrap metal recycler EMR for breaching an August 2025 community donations agreement signed after a major fire at its yards. The MOU required an initial 1 million USD payment into a community benefits fund run by the Community Foundation of South Jersey plus 450,000 USD a year over five years. A New Jersey Attorney General's Office filing says EMR has deposited only about 783,000 USD since signing; the fund holds roughly 2.3 million USD, most paid in earlier, since October 2023. EMR says the city knew an existing fund would cover the pledges; Camden's lawyer calls that a repurposing of 2023 money. The five Camden yards have had 14 fires since 2020; a May shredder fire cost EMR its junkyard licence, and it restarted in July, with stoppage damages disputed. Only 310,000 USD for a fire truck has been paid out.

President Donald Trump announced a 15 billion USD steel plant in Iowa to be built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota company owned by India's Essar Group. Fully built out, it is slated to produce 10 million tonnes of steel a year, which Trump described as the largest steel plant in the United States. Production is projected to begin in 2030, fed by a new 2.5 billion USD iron ore mine that Mesabi developed along Minnesota's Mesabi iron range; the White House said the steel will be produced from start to finish in the United States. Trump credited the 50% tariffs he imposed on steel imports last year for the investment, saying companies build in the US to avoid paying them. He also cited his approval of Nippon Steel's takeover of U.S. Steel. CEO Joe Broking called it a major moment for US-made steel, supplying national defence, cars and trucks, shipbuilding, appliances, energy and infrastructure.