Arabic version: مصنع ويالا للصلب يعتزم إلغاء أكثر من 500 وظيفة

According to The Guardian, more than 500 jobs will be cut at Whyalla’s steelworks, port and associated mine after repeated failures to restart the site’s blast furnace. Administrators KordaMentha said the workforce will fall from 1,700 to about 1,200 employees, while another 100 labour-hire workers will lose their jobs.

The decision to stop further attempts to revive the blast furnace will shut down most operations at the South Australian facility. Whyalla is one of Australia’s two remaining steel facilities and the country’s last onshore manufacturer of rail steel. The coal-fired furnace, which is 60 years old, has been offline since April.

South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas said the furnace’s “days were numbered” and that it had always been intended to close. He said redundant workers would receive their full entitlements. State and federal governments will provide a $10m package including support for re-skilling and training.

The steelworks had been part of British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta’s metals empire before the South Australian government placed the operations into administration early last year, citing years of underinvestment and unfulfilled upgrade plans. Governments later announced a $2.4bn support package for operations, employees, creditors and infrastructure, with the aim of finding a buyer. KordaMentha partner Sebastian Hams said the move was necessary as the company transitions to modern steelmaking technologies. Manufacturing is expected to continue using stockpiles and externally sourced semi-finished steel products, while port operations will continue. Administrators hope to sell the business without an operating blast furnace.