Steelmaker GFG Alliance’s executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta put on a brave face in South Australia this week, vowing the company’s troubled Whyalla blast furnace would produce again and that the site had a future making green steel. Gupta travelled to Whyalla in South Australia to inspect repair work on the blast furnace which has been…
By Charlie Huang, RMIT University Australia is at the forefront of efforts to turn steelmaking green. Earlier this year Australian iron ore producers Rio Tinto teamed up with Australian steelmaker BlueScope to develop “near-zero emission-intensity” pathways for making steel from Pilbara iron ore. Renewable electricity and hydrogen would replace coking coal. Iron ore miner Fortescue…
What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) Ghost Shark autonomous submarine to be manufactured in Sydney The federal government has delivered on its promise of more rapid defence decision making, accelerating the manufacture of the Ghost Shark underwater autonomous vehicle for undersea surveillance, reconnaissance and strike at…
What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading. 5) Fortescue backpedals on green hydrogen, heads downstream Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue has backpedaled on its ambitions in green hydrogen, reorganising the mining and energy company and focusing more on familiar downstream green energy opportunities. The company, which has taken what some…
Workers are gradually returning to regular shift rosters at the GFG Alliance-owned Whyalla steelworks in South Australia, following issues at the blast furnace after a routine shutdown operation in mid-March. Hundreds are back to work as usual, according to a statement from GFG Alliance on Wednesday. The blast furnace’s restart operation “is nearing completion following…
The NSW Government has given planning approval for a $300 million refurbishment of BlueScope’s 60-year-old plate mill at Port Kembla. The development is a massive endorsement of locally made steel operations in NSW according to the government, with an estimated $650 million injection of stimulus to the economy. The upgrade will improve production capability and…
Miner and maufacturer Rio Tinto will invest $215 million (US$143 million) to develop a research and development facility in Western Australia to assess the effectiveness of its low-carbon ironmaking process, BioIron, to support decarbonising the global steel value chain. The development of the BioIron Research and Development Facility in the Rockingham Strategic Industrial Area south…
The Whyalla steelworks is back producing steel following successful repairs to the blast furnace, GFG Alliance Chairman Sanjeev Gupta has just announced. Gupta made the announcement while visiting the steelworks to inspect repairs (pictured) after an uncontrolled iron breakout which damaged the furnaces outer shell. Whyalla is Australia’s only source of steel rails and structural…
Steelmaker GFG Alliance’s Sanjeev Gupta has told staff that the company which operates the Whyalla steelworks was ‘very confident’ faulty furnace at the site would be restored ‘imminently’. However this could be as late as next month according to local trade unions. Gupta said via video: “The last couple of months have probably been amongst…
The Whyalla steelworks blast furnace is idle and workers have accepted a temporary loss of pay following an incident during a routine shutdown operation. Owner GFG Alliance has confirmed that the blast furnace – Australia’s only source of steel rails and structural steel, had been closed since March due to an uncontrolled iron breakout which…
