The boss of the stricken Whyalla steelworks is exiting in a management shake-up where British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta has set up a new “Back to Black” taskforce to try to get the plant back up and running.

Tony Swiericzuk, who has been managing director of Mr Gupta’s Liberty Primary Steel operations since September 2022, had direct oversight of the Whyalla plant. It is running at a loss and unable to make steel because of blast furnace problems.