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Whyalla nervously waits for steelworks sale and blast furnace repairs
🇦🇺 Australia /Economy & Trade

Whyalla nervously waits for steelworks sale and blast furnace repairs

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Whyalla's blast furnace has remained offline or severely impaired for months, raising uncertainty over about 400 steelmaking jobs and hundreds of contractor roles.
  • The South Australian government placed the plant into administration after its former owner, GFG Alliance, accumulated millions of dollars in debts.
  • Jindal Steel and M Resources are the final bidders, but Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said the sale may extend beyond the expected deadline.

For five months, a thick plume of steam has appeared on and off above the Whyalla steelworks. To an outsider, it might suggest that the blast furnace is operating normally. In Whyalla, where many residents work at the plant or know someone who does, it signals the opposite.

“When it's running, there's very little (steam) that comes out,” said former steelworks worker Marty Hilton. The plume, he explained, shows that the furnace is not actually operating. With the furnace offline, the seaside city is left waiting on both its industrial future and the identity of the plant's next owner.

When it's running, there's very little (steam) that comes out.

— Marty HiltonThe former steelworks worker explained why the persistent steam plume indicates that the blast furnace is not operating normally.

The steelworks employs about 400 people and supports hundreds more jobs through contractors. Whyalla depends on the plant, while the plant depends on its blast furnace. Hilton said a furnace in trouble can take a great deal to restore, although he believed operators would continue as long as there was “any flicker of life.”

The furnace is like that; once it gets in trouble it takes a lot to get it out of trouble.

— Marty HiltonHilton described the difficulty of restoring the aging furnace.

The South Australian government forced the plant into administration last year after former owner GFG Alliance owed millions of dollars to creditors and the government. Indian company Jindal Steel and Australian-owned M Resources have been announced as the final two bidders. Administrator Sebastian Hams had said he expected the sale to finish by the end of the month, but Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said he was not certain that would happen. “I don't know if it will be this month, but there will be a sale process,” he told ABC News.

Whyalla has faced industrial uncertainty before. Shipbuilding ended in the 1970s, and steel remained central to the city's fortunes when former steelworks owner Arrium entered administration in 2016. The current process is the city's second steelworks administration in a decade, leaving residents once again in limbo.

I don't know if it will be this month, but there will be a sale process.

— Tom KoutsantonisSouth Australia's treasurer warned that the steelworks sale could take longer than expected.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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