NEWS
US-based firm unveils US$750M revitalisation plan for shuttered Point Lisas steel plant
A decade after the closure of ArcelorMittal left hundreds jobless and a premier industrial asset abandoned, a million-dollar investment described as “Lazarus arising from the dead” is now bringing heavy manufacturing back to the Point Lisas Industrial Estate. Local subsidiary Ibis Steel Company, backed by United States parent firm Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation, officially kicked off site refurbishment yesterday, with plans to pump an overall investment of US$750 million into the development, with the potential to generate up to 1,000 permanent jobs. High-ranking diplomatic and government officials, including US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, gathered at the facility to mark what Landau called the “resurrection” of the nation’s steel industry and a key breakthrough in international mineral supply chains. Read more here
TTMS tracking tropical wave
The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) says it is monitoring an active Tropical Wave in the central Atlantic ocean, though there are no watches or warnings in effect for the country at this time. A release from the TTMS today noted the system centred approximately 1900km east of the Southern Windward islands. Presently, it says, the system is disorganized with scattered patches of showers and thunderstorms. It is moving westward, toward the Caribbean at approximately 28 kilometres per hour and is expected to affect the southern Windward islands from Thursday, it said. Read more here
POLITICS
Kamla: US partnership can revive energy sector
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says agreements reached during a visit by United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau mark renewed confidence in T&T, and could help drive investment, energy security and industrial development. Persad-Bissessar made the comment at a signing ceremony during Landau’s official visit to T&T yesterday. She identified three major commercial initiatives: Curlew Midstream’s proposed fuel-storage and bunkering terminal at Point Lisas, Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation’s proposed restoration of the former ISCOTT plant, and agreements between the National Gas Company and BP linked to the Manakin-Cocuina cross-border gas field. “Today, our nations turn longstanding friendship into action, into creating opportunities for our people,” Persad-Bissessar said. Read more here
State given five days to answer violation notice
The State has been given five days to respond to a violation notice issued over the construction of a joint army-police post at the Eddie Hart Savannah, Tacarigua. So said chairman of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation, Josiah Austin, during a news conference at the site yesterday. Austin said the notice had been served on Friday to the contractor after the Corporation failed to get a meeting with the authorities involved in the construction of the post. He said the Corporation had also requested a meeting with UDeCOTT officials for 10 a.m. yesterday, but the request was declined. Another request was subsequently made for a meeting at a time convenient to the authorities, but no meeting had been held. Read more here
BUSINESS
Ibis Steel will boost economy, business leaders say
Business leaders in central and south Trinidad yesterday were unanimous in their views that the refurbishment and refashioning of the steel plant on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate would be a significant boost to the economy of the region, by generating new jobs and foreign exchange. Ibis Steel Company of Trinidad and Tobago yesterday hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the site of the ArcelorMittal plant, which shut down in March 2016. Ibis Steel is a subsidiary of US-based metals and industrial investment company, Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation. In opening remarks Pinnacle’s chief executive officer, Edwin Bennett, said the company’s initial investment is planned at US$250 million and it proposes to create 350 jobs during the restart of the facility and 500 full-time jobs. Read more here
Massy’s 9-month profit falls 32%
Massy Holdings’ profit for the nine months ended June 30, 2026, fell 32% to $370 million from $543.2 million a year earlier, largely due to a $109.7 million accounting loss from the disposal of Massy Distribution (Jamaica) Ltd. “The sale of Massy Distribution (Jamaica) Ltd advances our strategy of concentrating capital where Massy is best positioned to achieve attractive long-term returns,” chairman Robert Riley said in his statement accompanying the company’s results. “The transaction, presented within discontinued operations, resulted in a $109.7 million accounting loss on disposal, principally reflecting the reclassification through the profit or loss of $137.3 million of accumulated foreign-currency translation losses. This was an accounting consequence of the disposal rather than a current cash outflow,” Riley said. Read more here
REGIONAL
President Ali mulls poultry hub to transition backyard farmers into commercial production in Region Two
Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) could see the development of a dedicated poultry production hub, as the government explores ways of helping small farmers move from backyard operations into more organised and profitable commercial farming. President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali raised the proposal during community consultations held at Good Hope and Suddie on Monday, pointing to the large number of residents already engaged in poultry production on a small scale. The President said the current pattern of backyard farming can sometimes create difficulties for both farmers and their neighbours, particularly when poultry operations are carried out within residential communities. He suggested that instead of having dozens of farmers operating independently from their yards, they could be brought together at a designated location equipped for modern poultry production. Under the proposed arrangement, farmers could become part of a larger poultry cluster with financial support through the Guyana Development Bank. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Trump hid in catering truck in secret plane swap over Iran threat, reports say
Donald Trump secretly swapped planes as he left a Nato summit in Turkey last month, as part of an elaborate ruse in response to a possible Iranian threat, US media report. The US president boarded Air Force One in view of television cameras before being transported to a military aircraft with the help of a catering truck, the Washington Post said. Journalists and some White House staff on board did not know he had been smuggled out. Officials told the BBC's US partner CBS News that the US had detected a credible Iranian threat to fire a missile at the plane. The White House has not confirmed the secret switch. Trump had earlier said he was Iran's "number one target" during the summit in Ankara. Read more here
11th August 2026