In the South Australian city of Whyalla, a blast furnace built in the 1960s sits cold and silent, and those responsible for its fate are quietly reconciling themselves to the likelihood that it will never burn again. The steelworks, stripped from British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta's troubled GFG Alliance in early 2025, now awaits a new owner — either Australian firm M Resources or India's Jindal Steel — as $1.9 billion in government funding stands ready to shepherd the facility into a greener industrial future. But between the old world and the new, hundreds of workers occupy an uncertain mid
Whyalla steelworks makes 'one last crack' at blast furnace restart as job losses loom
Hundreds of jobs at the Whyalla steelworks are at risk from the anticipated permanent closure of the blast furnace, with potential redundancies, reduced hours, and forced use of annual leave.
At some point the blast furnace's life must necessarily come to an end
Mark
So the furnace has been down since April. That's months. Why hasn't it been restarted already if they're so worried about jobs?
Mimi
The furnace is sixty years old and hasn't had real upgrades in over two decades. When it shut down, they found maintenance work that needs to happen. That work is ongoing, and it's informing when they think they can safely try to restart it.
Luke
But we should be clear: the government and the unions are preparing for permanent closure. This restart attempt is described as a "last crack." That's not confidence. That's hope.
Mark
Right. So what's the actual plan? They can't just keep an old furnace running forever.
Mimi
The plan is to transition to new technology—direct-reduced iron and electric arc furnaces. That's green steelmaking. Two companies are bidding to buy the facility with $1.9 billion in government support. Both say they'll do the transition, but on different timelines.
Luke
And the furnace won't survive that transition. Crafter said explicitly it's unlikely to make it. So the question isn't really whether the furnace closes. It's when, and what happens to the workers in the gap.
Mark
How many workers are we talking about?
Mimi
Hundreds. The exact number isn't specified in the reporting, but it's described as hundreds of jobs at risk.
Luke
And the support packages—what do we actually know about those? The government says it's preparing them, but there's no detail on what they'll look like.
Mark
So workers might lose hours, use up annual leave, or face redundancy?
Mimi
Those are the scenarios the union is naming as real possibilities. The union leader said there's a "real risk" the furnace won't make it to the transition.
Luke
And the sale won't close until end of September. So there's a gap—potentially months—where the furnace is either down or running on borrowed time, and the workforce is in limbo.
Mark
That's the real story, isn't it? Not the furnace. The people waiting.
Il Polso
- A blast furnace offline since April — and unupgraded since 2004 — is being given one last restart attempt in early July, though few involved believe it will succeed.
- Hundreds of steelworkers face an anxious wait as the gap between the furnace's likely permanent closure and the arrival of new green steelmaking technology leaves their employment in limbo.
- The South Australian government, unions, and court-appointed administrators are already negotiating redundancy packages, reduced hours, and redeployment options before any formal closure is announced.
- Two competing bidders — M Resources and Jindal Steel — are racing toward a September sale deadline, both committed to direct-reduced iron and electric arc furnace technology but divided on how quickly the transition will happen.
- Premier Malinauskas and union secretary Gary Henderson have each named the hard truth publicly: the blast furnace's end is a matter of when, not if, and the human cost is still being counted.
In the South Australian city of Whyalla, a blast furnace built in the 1960s sits cold and silent, and those responsible for its fate are quietly reconciling themselves to the likelihood that it will never burn again. The steelworks, stripped from British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta's troubled GFG Alliance in early 2025, now awaits a new owner — either Australian firm M Resources or India's Jindal Steel — as $1.9 billion in government funding stands ready to shepherd the facility into a greener industrial future. But between the old world and the new, hundreds of workers occupy an uncertain middle ground, their livelihoods suspended between one final restart attempt and the redundancy packages already being quietly prepared.
The blast furnace at Whyalla steelworks has been silent since April, and the people responsible for it — state government officials, union leaders, court-appointed administrators — are preparing, quietly but seriously, for the possibility that it will never fire again. The furnace dates to the 1960s and has not received substantial work since 2004. A restart attempt is being targeted for early July, described by one union official as "one last crack," but the real conversations are already about what follows if it fails.
The steelworks was stripped from Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance by the South Australian government in February 2025 and is now being contested by two bidders: Australian firm M Resources and India's Jindal Steel. Both have committed to transitioning the facility to green steelmaking — a direct-reduced iron plant paired with an electric arc furnace — backed by $1.9 billion in combined state and federal funding. A sale is expected by the end of September.
Sam Crafter, who leads the state government's Industrial Transformation Unit, told a parliamentary committee that the old blast furnace is unlikely to survive the changeover to new technology. Premier Peter Malinauskas was equally direct: "At some point in time the blast furnace's life must necessarily come to an end." The government is already preparing workplace support packages for workers and contractors caught in the transition.
For the workforce, the risks are concrete. Australian Workers Union state secretary Gary Henderson outlined what the coming months could bring: forced use of annual leave, reduced working hours — something the workforce has already endured — and, in the worst case, redundancies. Some workers may be offered positions elsewhere; others will be entitled to redundancy payments. The precise shape of the fallout is still being negotiated.
The furnace sits cold while technicians work around it, and the timeline for any restart continues to shift as maintenance reveals new complications. The sale process moves forward regardless. For the people of Whyalla, the question is no longer whether the old furnace's era is ending, but how much time remains before it does.
The blast furnace at Whyalla steelworks has been silent since April, and everyone involved—the state government, the unions, the court-appointed administrators—is quietly preparing for the possibility that it will never fire up again. The furnace is old. It was built in the 1960s and has not received any substantial work since 2004. In the next fortnight, workers will attempt what one union official called "one last crack" to restart it. But the real conversation happening in offices and committee rooms is about what comes after it fails.
Hundreds of jobs hang in the balance. The steelworks is in the middle of a forced transition. The British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance, which owned the facility, was stripped of it by the South Australian government in February 2025. Now two companies are bidding to take over: M Resources, an Australian firm, and Jindal Steel from India. The state and federal governments have committed $1.9 billion to help whoever wins make the shift to what the industry calls green steelmaking—a direct-reduced iron plant paired with an electric arc furnace. Both bidders say they are committed to the transition, though they disagree on timing.
Sam Crafter, who runs the state government's Whyalla steelworks Industrial Transformation Unit, told parliament's budget and finance committee on Monday that the old blast furnace is unlikely to survive the changeover. "Obviously, the blast furnace is a very old piece of equipment and so it's not likely that the blast furnace will be able to make that transition," he said. The state is already preparing what it calls "workplace support and development packages" for workers and contractors. Premier Peter Malinauskas acknowledged the hard truth plainly: "At some point in time the blast furnace's life must necessarily come to an end."
What happens to the people who work there is still being negotiated. Some will be entitled to redundancy packages, Malinauskas said. Others might be offered positions elsewhere. But Gary Henderson, the South Australian branch secretary of the Australian Workers Union, named the risks clearly. There could be forced use of annual leave. Hours could be cut—something the workforce has already experienced. In the worst case, there would be redundancies. "The risk is that there could be potential where people have to use their annual leave, there could be a risk of a reduction of hours of work which we saw before," Henderson said. "A worst-case scenario would be redundancies."
The furnace has had a troubled history even before this crisis. It faced similar shutdowns when GFG Alliance was in charge. The machinery is undergoing significant maintenance work right now, and that work is happening on-site, around the furnace itself. The timeline for restart keeps shifting as technicians discover what needs to be fixed. Malinauskas said the government would "give it one last crack to bring it back up and running" once the maintenance work informs them when that might be possible. The court-appointed administrator KordaMentha said early July was the target.
The sale of the steelworks is expected to close by the end of September. Until then, the furnace sits cold, and the workers wait to see whether the restart attempt will buy them time or whether the end has already arrived.
Citazioni salienti
The blast furnace is a very old piece of equipment and so it's not likely that the blast furnace will be able to make that transition.— Sam Crafter, state government's Whyalla steelworks Industrial Transformation Unit
There's a real risk the furnace would not make it to the transition of a new furnace. A worst-case scenario would be redundancies.— Gary Henderson, Australian Workers Union SA branch secretary
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