Liberty Steel’s Whyalla steelworks, located in South Australia, has cast its first steel following a four-month shutdown due to operational challenges and extensive repairs.
The return of steelmaking represents a ‘significant milestone in the ongoing monumental effort by the management team and the Whyalla workforce to rescue the plant’, says the company. Liberty Steel is owned by GFG Alliance, an international group of companies specialising in the steel, aluminium, and energy sectors.
“This is an emotional moment for me and the entire team who have worked around the clock and tackled many challenges to make a successful return to steelmaking.''
Theuns Victor, global chief manufacturing officer, GFG Alliance
Theuns Victor, GFG Alliance’s global chief manufacturing officer leading the Whyalla ‘Back to Black’ taskforce said, “This is an emotional moment for me and the entire team who have worked around the clock and tackled many challenges to make a successful return to steelmaking. However, I want to caution that we still have a long way to go before the plant is stable and secure. The blast furnace is currently running at half its capacity with a number of issues yet to be resolved. At the same time, we are also tackling challenges in the rest of the plant and will soon enter the EPIC Energy natural gas lateral shut down for 2-3 weeks which will add further complexity to the operations. Despite this I am very confident we will deliver the plant to stability and then to its full capacity, but this will take time and patience. I am immensely proud of the perseverance of our Whyalla team, which will see us overcome the enormous challenges we have been facing.”
''This is nothing less than a Herculean undertaking, steel plants of this vintage don’t do well being shut for four months.''
Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman, GFG Alliance
GFG Alliance’s executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta said: “We have deployed our best resources to rescue Whyalla and I am pleased to see the first real sign of progress towards our goal to return the plant to full production and then back to black. This is nothing less than a Herculean undertaking, steel plants of this vintage don’t do well being shut for four months. I commend our team for their dedication and perseverance despite ongoing headwinds and challenges. In addition to my team I want to thank all stakeholders who have been supportive of our mission, especially customers, vendors and suppliers who are bearing with us on this journey. I would like to reassure them that my commitment to Whyalla remains steadfast and we will not rest until we bring the business back to black for the long term prosperity of all our stakeholders. Back to Black is the critical foundation on which our incredible aspirations to build a green steel future for Whyalla and GFG rest.”