Stauber Statement on Mesabi Metallics’ Plan to Build a $15 Billion Steel Mill in Iowa

September 28, 2026 Press Release WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08) made the following statement in response to today’s announcement that Mesabi Metallics plans to build a $15 billion steel mill in Iowa. This will be the largest steel plant in U.S. history and is expected to produce 7.5 million or more tons of steel each year while employing as many as 1,700 workers. “I am proud that Mesabi Metallics recently opened their new mine in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District – the first new mine to be built on the Iron Range in over 50 years. Furthermore, I appreciate the President’s commitment to revitalize America’s steel industry and am excited that the taconite produced on Minnesota’s Mighty Iron Range will play a vital role in that national effort. “However, building this facility in Iowa is a missed opportunity for Northern Minnesota. The hardworking union men and women on the Iron Range stood ready to build, operate, and support a facility of this scale. Yet, their state leaders failed them. While Iowa’s leaders have fostered a pro-growth environment that attracts investment and jobs, the Walz-Flanagan Administration have done the opposite. Their abysmal leadership has driven away opportunity through hostility to industry and indifference to the Iron Range. They shoulder all the blame for this 15-billion-dollar project, along with its 1,700 family-sustaining jobs, going to our neighbor to the south. “Minnesota cannot afford more of the same. We need state leaders who make Minnesota a place that welcomes investment and the jobs that come with it, not a place that is repeatedly overlooked because it continues to chase investment away." ###