Whyalla Steelworks Shutdown to Put Around 500 Jobs at Risk

The permanent shutdown of the blast furnace at the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia is expected to result in around 500 employee job losses, along with more than 100 contractor positions. Workers were informed of the decision on Monday.

The blast furnace has remained offline since April, and efforts to restart it have been unsuccessful. The furnace was used to process iron ore into liquid pig iron, which was then used to produce steel.

The announcement comes while administrators KordaMentha and the South Australian and federal governments work towards completing the sale of the steelworks, which entered administration 19 months ago.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas is expected to provide more information about the situation, including possible employment opportunities with other employers such as BHP.

KordaMentha has previously warned workers that not everyone would be able to remain employed as the business was restructured. The options being considered include redeployment, voluntary redundancy and forced redundancy.

A letter provided to workers said steelmaking would stop until new steelworks assets using modern steelmaking technologies are built. It also stated that some parts of the OneSteel business would close, while other areas would operate with fewer employees.

The letter estimated that approximately 500 employees and 100 labour-hire workers could be affected. Support being provided to affected workers includes training, financial advice and mental health assistance.

Despite the job losses, the South Australian government says the sale of the steelworks remains on track for completion by the end of 2026. Jindal Steel and M Resources are still bidding for the business, while BlueScope Steel retains its right of last offer.