By Aleem Khan -- Trinidad Express
Two foreign investors have partnered with the Steel Workers Union of Trinidad and Tobago (SWUTT) to submit a US$100 million bid for the ArcelorMittal plant in Point Lisas, which was closed on March 11 and more than 600 workers were left jobless without severance benefits, the union's executive said at a press conference yesterday at National Flour Mills (NFM) Sports Club, on Wrightson Road in Port of Spain.
The SWUTT proposal, which was submitted in September, is to re-employ terminated workers, re-start production of the historical products (steel billets and more) and diversify into steel pan production and container-house construction.
He said the union's proposal is to give a controlling shareholding of 51 to 60 per cent of the company to the investors, and 49-40 per cent to workers, the public, “and if the Government is interested, the Government also”.
Replies
These ideas come from lay persons who don't have a clue about business.
The Mittal plant is geared to producing the input to steel fabrication. If you want to build pans you do not need a steel foundry. That is overkill.
Also container house production uses old containers that are not useful for their original use because of physical integrity etc. It makes little sense to build new containers to make container houses. They might as well build containers for sale as containers.
Or build steel houses that have more flexibility than rectangular containers.
It shows the lack of understanding of the industry.
If Mittal with all their connections and market savvy have decided to abandon the plant, you can be sure that anyone trying to make a go of it without the connections they have will obviously fail.