Whyalla steelworks blast furnace has been damaged, delaying its estimated restart date
The owners of the Whyalla steelworks have confirmed the plant’s blast furnace has been damaged during attempts to restart it. The latest problem at the troubled site means the pay of more than a thousand workers could be reduces for a lengthy period. The State Energy Minister says the government is gravely concerned and is sending its own experts to the Upper Spencer Gulf to see what is happening.
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00:00 The molten heart of South Australia's Steel City is offline and for nearly two months
00:07 experts have been working to restart Wyalas Blast furnace which has now been damaged during
00:13 that process.
00:14 This latest development has raised with the government grave concerns. We've reached out
00:19 we've said look if there's any international expert, any assistance that they need for
00:23 us to fly in and assist them, we'll do it.
00:25 In a statement GFG Alliance said the furnace shell was damaged during recovery work and
00:31 warned the repairs may delay the anticipated restart of steel making which was expected
00:36 within weeks.
00:37 The SA government is now sending its own independent experts to the plant.
00:41 To make sure that we get the answers that we want, this is a very very important part
00:46 of kit. We're not ready to transition to an electric arc furnace. This blast furnace needs
00:51 to survive.
00:52 The furnace is nearly 60 years old. Its life has been extended previously by costly relining,
00:58 a process which has happened three times, most recently in 2004. On Friday before the
01:04 damage occurred, ABC News asked GFG about the state it's now in.
01:09 The furnace condition is surprisingly good. We've had two external reports done in the
01:14 time that I've been there and both reports are quite positive in the furnace condition.
01:18 But with the site now facing a longer shutdown, the impact on workers may be significant.
01:23 1100 people are directly employed at the steelworks and many of them have already had their shifts
01:29 and pay reduced.
01:30 The question for us is to make sure that regular maintenance has been done, to make sure that
01:35 the money that needs to be invested has been invested.
01:38 We had the blast furnace shut down essentially in recent weeks and that puts thousands of
01:45 jobs at potential risk.
01:46 With no local steel rolling off the line, GFG says it's importing billet so it can keep
01:51 making some products to meet its customers' orders.
01:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]