The Whyalla Steelworks has cast its first steel following a four-month shutdown caused by operational challenges and extensive repairs. This marks a significant step forward in efforts by the management team and workforce to revive the plant.
Theuns Victor, GFG Alliance’s Global Chief Manufacturing Officer and head of the Whyalla ‘Back to Black’ taskforce, described the achievement as an important moment for the team, which has worked to restore operations.
Theuns Victor, GFG’s global Chief Manufacturing Officer leading the Whyalla ‘Back to Black’ taskforce said, “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 shutdown for 2-3 weeks which will add further complexity to the operations.”
GFG’s Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta added, “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 4 months.”
In August, it was revealed that the Whyalla Steelworks, in South Australia’s Upper Spencer Gulf region, had experienced a series of shutdowns of its blast furnace. The disruptions were attributed to difficulties in sourcing sufficient supplies of coking coal, a critical material for steel production, as per reports.