PSML Commits $1.3bn to Revive Moribund Delta Steel Company

By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal government has signed an agreement with Premium Steel and Mines Limited (PSML) to revive the moribund Delta Steel Company in Ovwian-Aladja, Delta State.

The agreement, signed this week, is expected to pave the way for the rehabilitation and full reactivation of the integrated steel plant, which has remained largely inactive since 2015.

PSML has committed more than $1.3 billion to the project, covering raw material exploration and exploitation, as well as the rehabilitation and modernisation of the steel plant.

The company is expected to restore the plant to its installed capacity of one million tonnes of liquid steel annually and commence commercial operations within 18 to 24 months, subject to sustained iron ore supply.

The Sub-lease and Operations Agreement between the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), Itakpe, and PSML provides the framework for the Federal Government’s support for the resuscitation of the plant.

Speaking on the development, the Minister of Steel Development, Mr Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, said the revival was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Mr Audu said the project was not merely about reviving an old industrial facility but about restoring Nigeria’s capacity to produce steel locally, create jobs and support downstream industries.

According to him, the government will continue to work with credible private investors by providing the raw materials, infrastructure, policy coordination and enabling environment needed to drive investment in the steel sector.

The ministry said the project would also support the reactivation of NIOMCO and the development of the Ajabanoko iron ore deposits.

It is expected to create about 5,000 direct jobs and more than 20,000 indirect jobs, while contributing to Nigeria’s target of producing 10 million tonnes of liquid steel annually by 2030.

The project is also expected to boost freight movement along the Central Rail Line and increase utilisation of the Delta Steel Company jetty.

The Delta Steel Plant, commissioned in 1982 with an installed capacity of one million tonnes of liquid steel annually, was designed as an integrated steel plant but operated at only about 25 per cent of its capacity before its eventual shutdown.

The federal government later privatised the company in 2005, while the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) sold it to PSML in 2015 to recover unserviceable debts.

The government said the latest agreement must translate into actual mine development, plant rehabilitation, commercial steel production and sustainable jobs within the agreed 18–24-month timeline.

The Ministry of Steel Development thanked the Ministries of Justice and Solid Minerals Development for their support and commended PSML for its commitment to reviving the strategic national asset.