What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) Quantum Brilliance opens Melbourne synthetic diamond foundry Australian-German company Quantum Brilliance has opened a new facility at Melbourne’s Notting Hill, where it will make lab-grown diamonds for quantum computing devices. According to a statement on Wednesday from state economic growth…
Tania Archibald, the current head of BlueScope’s Australian Steel Products business, will begin as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the nation’s top steelmaker early next year. According to a statement from BlueScope on Wednesday, Archibald will take over from current CEO and Managing Director Mark Vassella on February 1, 2026. “I’d like to…
The NSW government has released a rezoning proposal covering 200 hectares of underutilised land on the southern edge of the Port Kembla Steelworks, which it says is a major step forward for “[t]he world’s current largest industrial land transformation project”. The proposed precinct on the surplus land would attract new activity “across advanced manufacturing, clean…
BlueScope has formed a massive international consortium with Japanese, Indian and Korean steelmakers to explore acquiring the troubled Whyalla Steelworks, the company announced on Wednesday. The consortium includes Nippon Steel Corporation, JSW Steel and POSCO, collectively representing $115 billion in market capitalisation and total steelmaking capacity of approximately 130 million tonnes. BlueScope will leverage its…
The federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has awarded a $19.8 million grant to support NeoSmelt – a joint venture between BlueScope, BHP, Rio Tinto, Woodside Energy and Mitsui Iron Ore Development – progress towards a planned low-emissions iron pilot plant at Kwinana. According to a statement on Tuesday from energy minister Chris Bowen…
By Anne Vo, University of Wollongong At a time of widespread global trade instability, Australia should be expanding and diversifying its economic partnerships. Supply chains remain fragile, and protectionist rhetoric is once again gaining traction in major Western economies. US President Donald Trump’s America First agenda includes sweeping tariffs on imports, withdrawal from multilateral agreements…
The Whyalla steelworks was losing $1.5 million per day before being forced into administration, burning through nearly $320 million in seven months, administrators KordaMentha revealed at a creditors meeting on Monday. The administrators outlined total debts exceeding $1.34 billion, including $189 million in outstanding employee entitlements and $40.2 million owed to the South Australian government…
GFG Alliance executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta said on Sunday that the Whyalla steelworks is generating between $13 million and $14 million in weekly turnover, with hopes of reaching break-even by mid-year. The announcement followed last week’s agreement with global creditors, ending a four-year process triggered by the collapse of GFG’s former financier, Greensill. The steelworks,…
BlueScope reported a net profit after tax of $179.1 million for the first half of FY2025, representing a $260.2 million decrease from the same period last year, according to a statement released on Monday. The Australian steel manufacturer delivered an underlying EBIT of $308.8 million, with Managing Director and CEO Mark Vassella describing it as…
Steelmaker BlueScope and iron ore miners, BHP and Rio Tinto have selected Kwinana Industrial Area, south of Perth, to host an electric smelting furnace pilot plant, which aims to test and optimise lower-carbon emissions molten iron from Pilbara iron ore using direct reduced iron (DRI)-ESF technology. Rio said the trio assessed a number of locations…