GFG confidence in Whyalla high despite natural gas shutdown set to hit steelworks

A looming gas shutdown at the embattled Whyalla Steelworks will stop some areas from operating temporarily – but once work resumes the company says it will start a recruitment drive.

A natural gas shut down at the embattled Whyalla Steelworks will stop some plant facilities from operating but components key to the site’s long-term recovery will remain operating.

Gas provider EPIC Energy has a two-to-three week planned shut down on the main gas line to the steelworks but the leader of the Whyalla “Back to Black” task force said the interruption in gas supply would not cause job losses.

GFG’s global chief manufacturer Theuns Victor told FIVEAA on Wednesday morning some facilities would not be operating while the gas supply was down but important maintenance would take place.

And, crucially, the site was able to keep the blast furnace up and running.

The Whyalla Steelworks and smelter facility. Picture: Ben Clark

“We were aware of this long in advance and we had enough time to work through all of the complications that will be induced by the lack of natural gas,” he said.

“The rolling mill and the pellet plant, which are the bigger consumers of natural gas, will unfortunately not be operating during this period.

“The blast furnace, which is also a big consumer, we have an alternative operating strategy where we can actually run the blast furnace.”

It comes as the Whyalla Steelworks produced its first steel in four months at the start of January after the plant suffered both global pressures and technical issues.

“It is absolutely critical for us to not lose all of the ground that we made up in these two months so it is critical to keep the blast furnace running,” Mr Victor told FIVEAA said.

“I’d like to use this opportunity just, just also to say that how proud I am of the Whyalla team … on January 5, we actually got the blast furnace stable enough and the quality of the product good enough that we could start all of the other facilities.

Mr Victor said the interruption in natural gas supply would not affect jobs, even temporarily.

“Two-to-three weeks is not a very long time and in fact both of those facilities, the pellet plant, as well as the rolling mill, will do some very important maintenance work.

He said as functions resume, the company would move into a recruitment phase.

“As we start ramping up the facility, after the natural gas has been restored, we will then push a million tons of steel per annum,” he said.

“And for that, we will have to, in fact, do some recruitment.

“Last year due to the very low volumes of steel that was produced, and also because of some retirements, we are actually now in a position where we don’t have sufficient people to run the facility at a million tons and we are working through a process now of identifying the additional positions and we will start a recruitment process.”

Originally published as GFG confidence in Whyalla high despite natural gas shutdown set to hit steelworks