'Hard roads ahead' as Whyalla steelworks cuts hundreds of jobs
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Workers in Whyalla were informed about job losses on Monday morning. (Supplied)
Hundreds of workers in Whyalla will lose their jobs as a result of a decision to permanently shut down the blast furnace at the South Australian town's steelworks.
It is expected the decision will mean 500 workers will be out of a job, as well as more than 100 contractors working at the site.
Workers at the Whyalla steelworks have been informed about the decision this morning.
The blast furnace has been offline since April and, despite the best efforts of workers, they have not been able to restart it.
The coal-fired oven was used to melt iron-ore into liquid pig iron, which was then turned to steel.
It comes as administrators Korda Mentha and the state and federal governments look to finalise the sale of the business which went into administration 19 months ago.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas is expected to reveal further details about the decision this afternoon, including potential job offers from other employers, including BHP.
The blast furnace at the Whyalla steelworks has been shut down for months. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
At the time the administration was announced in February 2025, Mr Malinauskas said the purpose of appointing KordaMentha was to "stabilise the business and seek to stop" job losses from occurring.
"For workers employed by OneSteel Manufacturing, that is workers at the steelworks itself, they will now have their futures assured," the premier said at the time.
"They're in a situation now where they're not going to wake up tomorrow and the administrator is making people redundant."
Two bidders, Jindal Steel and M Resources, remain in the running to buy the steelworks, but BlueScope Steel retains its right of last offer.
On Sunday, Mr Malinauskas said a sale was still likely in the next three-and-a-half months.
"We intend to finalise the sale and the transaction by the end of this year. We're on track to do that," he said.
"What that will set up is a massive injection of capital into Whyalla to set it up for a new long-term future."
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