Essar Steel Given Deadline to Agree to Loan Payback Plan

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Essar Steel Minnesota has a new deadline to meet that will determine how fast the state gets paid back for taconite-project loans.

Gov. Mark Dayton on Wednesday informed company officials that they had a week to reach a repayment plan for nearly $66 million in state loans toward construction at the Nashwauk taconite plant site. Under Dayton's offer, which the state negotiators call final, the note would be repaid in full by the end of 2020.

Report say the sides have been negotiating a timeline for months. Dayton has threatened to demand immediate repayment if the company didn't meet certain conditions.

Essar Steel Minnesota's president says a plan will be resolved "soon, very soon."

Under the Dayton timeline, payments would start next March.