'One last crack' to restart Whyalla’s blast furnace as workers face nervous wait

Hundreds of jobs at the Whyalla steelworks hang in the balance as the plant's blast furnace faces the prospect of permanent closure. However, there is cautious optimism that the shutdown might be delayed, with workers preparing for "one last crack" to restart the furnace within the next fortnight.

The iron-producing furnace, built in the 1960s and last substantially upgraded in 2004, has been offline since April. The state government, unions, and steelworks administrator KordaMentha are all preparing for a scenario where the furnace closes permanently before the steelworks transitions to a direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant and electric arc furnace (EAF) operation.

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Obviously, the blast furnace is a very old piece of equipment and so it's not likely that the blast furnace will be able to make that transition.

Sam Crafter, who leads the state government's Whyalla steelworks Industrial Transformation Unit, informed a parliamentary committee that the blast furnace is "a very old piece of equipment" and unlikely to make the transition. The ABC understands that a permanent closure could result in hundreds of job losses. Mr. Crafter stated that the Department of State Development is preparing "workplace support and development packages" for affected workers and contractors.

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At some point in time the blast furnace's life must necessarily come to an end. When that happens, there'll be less demand for labour in the immediate term, particularly for those people who work in and around the blast furnace.

Premier Peter Malinauskas acknowledged that while the steelworks is responsible for redundancy packages, government agencies are ready to assist workers in finding "other opportunities." He noted that the furnace's life must eventually end, leading to reduced labor demand. The timeline for restarting the furnace is subject to ongoing maintenance, which informs the decision on when to attempt bringing it back online. Administrator KordaMentha anticipates the furnace could be operational again in early July.

Significant government funding, $1.9 billion from state and federal sources, is available for a new owner to facilitate the transition to green steelmaking. This follows the state government's decision to strip the facility from the GFG Alliance in February 2025. Australian-owned M Resources and Indian company Jindal Steel are the final bidders, with KordaMentha expecting a sale by the end of September. Both prospective buyers are reportedly committed to the DRI and EAF transition, though their approaches may differ.

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That work is happening in situ in and around the blast furnace, and that informs the timing of when we're going to give it one last crack to bring it back up and running.