Blast furnace jobs on the line ahead of SA premier’s announcement

An announcement is expected as soon as today that will potentially impact hundreds of jobs at the Whyalla steelworks, the ABC understands.

The site's aging blast furnace has been offline since April, but the ABC understands that a decision on its future is imminent.

There is the potential for administrators KordaMentha, along with the state government, to tell workers at the blast furnace to stop trying to bring it back online.

That would potentially result in the loss of hundreds of jobs at the blast furnace, as well as contract jobs and indirect jobs.

The steelworks has been in administration for 19 months, but the current situation is not expected to impact the sale process.

Speaking publicly on Sunday, SA Premier Peter Malinauskas indicated the blast furnace was approaching a crunch point.

"The blast furnace's days have always been numbered, and it's looking as though that that number is becoming increasingly small, to say the least," he said.

"The blast furnace is in an exceptionally precarious position and that problem has only been intensifying.

"This is a challenge we always knew was coming and … I think that's becoming increasingly well-known in Whyalla and to those that are working on the project."

Two bidders, Jindal Steel and M Resources, remain in the running to buy the steelworks, but BlueScope Steel retains its right of last offer.

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. We're now sitting in September so hopefully we're not too far away from announcing who that new owner is," 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."

The state government, unions and steelworks administrator KordaMentha have all been preparing for a scenario where the furnace permanently shuts before the steelworks transitions to a direct-reduced iron plant and electric arc furnace.

"The big picture here, of course, is the transaction that will see a new owner come in and put new technology and capital into the steelworks, and in that regard we remain very optimistic about the long-term future of Whyalla," the premier said.

The remaining two bidders were announced in May.

Jindal Steel is an Indian company and M Resources is an Australian-owned enterprise.