Arrium’s Whyalla workforce grows as company confirms additional shift at the town’s steelworks

ARRIUM’S administrator has come good on its promise to create 44 new jobs via an additional shift at the Whyalla steelworks’ rolling mill.

Mark Brine gets to work at Arrium’s rolling mill in Whyalla. An additional shift has created 44 new jobs.

ARRIUM’S administrator has come good on a promise to create 44 new jobs via an additional shift at the Whyalla steelworks’ rolling mill.

The extra shift, first announced in November by KordaMentha and now in operation, will meet demand that the current three-shift configuration cannot support.

The rise in demand was a result of a strong pipeline of rail work, changes in government planning and procurement policies, and support from the steelworks’ current customer base.

Executive general manager of the steelworks, Theuns Victor, said several of the new employees demonstrated a strong capability from early in their training, with some assisting in a planned shutdown in January.

Mr Victor said he was now keen to see the benefits of these additional employees and operating hours flow through to the Whyalla economy.

Arrium’s total Whyalla workforce is around 2600, including contractors. Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Daniel Walton has previously praised the workforce for “never taking their eyes off the ball”.

“The workers at the Whyalla steelworks deserve enormous credit ... they have kept the operation humming and that’s been critical to making a sale viable,” he said.

Just two bidders remain in the race to purchase Arrium: British-based steelmaker Liberty House and South Korean company Posco.

Discussions between KordaMentha, the two bidders, and both levels of government, involve co-investment in co-generation at the steelworks. Any surplus power would be delivered into the grid, propping up energy security on the Eyre Peninsula.

The sale is expected to be finalised by June 30.

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