Whyalla steel production restarts but GFG cautious
Whyalla Steelworks has cast its first steel following a tough four month shut down.
The struggling steelworks was plagued by shutdowns of its coal-fired blast furnace in 2024, and while it’s a welcome site to see steel rolling off the production line again, GFG’s global Chief Manufacturing Officer, Theuns Victor, says there’s still a long way to go before the plant is stable, secure and running at full capacity.
“The return of steelmaking represents a significant milestone in the ongoing monumental effort by the management team and the Whyalla workforce to rescue the plant,” he said.
“This is an emotional moment for me and the entire team who have worked around the clock and tackled many challenges to make a successful return to steelmaking. However, I want to caution that we still have a long way to go before the plant is stable and secure. The blast furnace is currently running at half its capacity with a number of issues yet to be resolved. At the same time we are also tackling challenges in the rest of the plant and will soon enter the EPIC Energy natural gas lateral shut down for 2-3 weeks which will add further complexity to the operations.”
Despite the challenges, Victor is confident of delivering stability to the plant and returning the ageing facility back to full capacity.
The company’s Executive Chairman, Sanjeev Gupta said GFG had deployed its best resources to “rescue Whyalla”.
“I am pleased to see the first real sign of progress towards our goal to return the plant to full production and then back to black. This is nothing less than a Herculean undertaking, steel plants of this vintage don’t do well being shut for four months. I commend our team for their dedication and perseverance despite ongoing headwinds and challenges.
In addition to my team I want to thank all stakeholders who have been supportive of our mission, especially customers, vendors and suppliers who are bearing with us on this journey. I would like to reassure them that my commitment to Whyalla remains steadfast and we will not rest until we bring the business back to black for the long term prosperity of all our
stakeholders. Back to Black is the critical foundation on which our incredible aspirations to build a green steel future for Whyalla and GFG rest.”
Whyalla’s Mayor, Phill Stone said the community couldn’t ask for a better start to 2025.
“As GFG have said, they’re not out of the woods yet with a number of challenges still to overcome to resume full production, but to have steel coming out of the caster is a major milestone after the past few months, which have really taken a toll on the morale of the whole city, so this is truly positive news.
“On behalf of Whyalla, I’d like to thank those committed steel workers who have battled tirelessly around the clock to achieve this major milestone – we all continue to support them as they work to ramp up to full production.
“From there, we urge GFG to demonstrate an achievable and deliverable long-term plan for their transition from carbon-based steelmaking, with realistic timeframes and milestones so the community understands what to expect over the coming years.
“While there are still plenty of challenges ahead this year, we believe this is the first of a host of positive announcements for Whyalla, as we work collaboratively with all levels of government on major projects such as our airport upgrade funding, commencement of construction for the Hydrogen Jobs Plan and many others.”
