Texas steel company’s Indian parent invests $500M
Houston-based JSW Steel USA is planning to modernize an existing plant and build a new facility thanks to a $500 million investment from its parent company in India.
John Hritz, the CEO, said during an exclusive interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman on “Countdown to the Closing Bell” that the new capacity was planned long before President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on imported steel and 15% on aluminum. “We are in lockstep with the president and with the administration,” Hritz said Monday. “And we’ve been obviously planning this expansion for the better part of two and a half years.”
Hritz said the company currently has 500 people on site and is expected to hire 500 new employees in high-tech jobs.
“We need a lot of great craftsmen,” he said. “We need every facet of people that you can imagine.”
JSW Steel USA, located 30 miles outside Houston in Baytown, Texas, sells high-quality carbon steel plates in one of the widest mills in North America.
“We are going to put in steelmaking capacity of a million tons,” Hritz said. “That means we’ll melt and manufacture steel in Baytown instead of importing slabs like we do now, and that will take us into a whole new realm with regards to exactly, exactly what the president is looking for.”