Pinnacle to restart shuttered Trinidad plant to sell vanadium to US

Western Uranium & Vanadium

10/08/2026 22:37

Aug 10 (Reuters) - A U.S. metals investment firm said on Monday it is preparing to restart an old steel plant on the Caribbean island of Trinidad so it can become a key U.S. supplier of vanadium, an ultra-strong metal used to make military aircraft, armor and batteries. 
Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation said it plans to produce enough vanadium to cover all of the United States' import needs, as the Trump administration looks to shore up supply chains of so-called critical materials across the Americas.
CEO Edwin Bennett said the company aims to produce "100% of the quantity of vanadium that the United States imports," the equivalent to half of U.S. consumption. 
"More than 80% of all vanadium is produced in China and Russia, so we look at this as a critical asset for Western critical mineral supply chains," Bennett told reporters, adding that Pinnacle aims to start production in 2027 and ultimately invest $750 million.
Pinnacle is planning an initial investment of $250 million, creating 350 jobs, and expanding this to 500 jobs once the factory has started production. At a later date, it would spend another $500 million and expand to 1,000 jobs.
The factory, formerly owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, shut down in 2016 and remained closed for a decade despite several attempts to sell and restart operations.
Bennett spoke after a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the plant at the Point Lisas heavy industry hub, on the western side of the Caribbean island, which sits some 11 km (7 miles) off Venezuela.
The ceremony was attended by top Trinidadian ministers as well as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who is set to travel to nearby Guyana this week.
U.S. Charge d'Affaires Philip Kern announced last month over $2 billion worth in memorandums of understanding between the Trinidadian government and three U.S. firms tied to Point Lisas; Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium, Curlew Midstream, and Hummingbird AI. 

 (Reporting by Sarah Morland and Curtis Williams; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
 ((sarah.morland@thomsonreuters.com;))