Speaking to Guardian Media yesterday, metallurgist Professor Clement Imbert questioned whether T&T has the raw materials necessary to produce vanadium domestically. “I do not think that we have any capacity to produce vanadium on our own,” Imbert said. He believes the country would have to import the necessary raw materials before processing them here. The questions come as local subsidiary Ibis Steel Company, backed by US-based Pinnacle Steel and Vanadium Corporation, begins refurbishment of the former ArcelorMittal facility. Bennett has described vanadium as the project’s key differentiator and said the company wants to produce the equivalent of 50 per cent of US vanadium consumption.