More steel and speculation in this week's Biz North

Wayne Nelson and the writers at Business North do a fine job of covering the economic news of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. This week's edition has a couple of interesting Iron Range stories.

First, this story reviews Essar Global's North American steel ambitions, something I talked about earlier in the week. This is the company that is in the process of buying Minnesota Steel, a proposed mining and steel-making operation on the Iron Range.

Then this story explores how the Iron Range is currently driving the region's manufacturing and service economy in advance of what is still believed to be a potential economic boom.

Minnesota Steel groundbreaking delayed

Financial close on Essar's Minnesota Steel plant has been delayed until May or even June, according to reports I'm hearing. I have confirmed this in Range political circles. The worldwide financial market is bad, so Essar is having trouble locking in on "financial close" for what would be the first iron to steel facility on the Mesabi Iron Range in northern Minnesota. The worldwide steel demand is holding steady so officials remain hopeful that this delay is only a formality. The danger is that the longer construction is delayed the greater the risk of the steel market slowing and further jeopardizing the financing. Wayne Nelson of Business North said something similar on 91.7 KAXE April 14. A report of a similar nature ran on WDIO last night.

On a more positive front, I have received word that several Essar engineers are working on the Iron Range right now on massive amounts of pre-construction planning. I hear they are Essar regulars, not locals that have been subcontracted. While not as good as a groundbreaking that is the next best possible news. Again, shovels in the ground are the only true indicator of a project go-ahead.

This project would be the biggest job creation project on the Iron Range in more than a decade and would solidify the region's place in the global steel market into the foreseeable future. The project isn't beloved by all, but it is by most, and the idea makes much more sense than several other economic development ideas currently out there.