An employee with a local contractor to the Whyalla Steelworks has called on the state government to do more as work dries up for several suppliers to the Steelworks. The plant's owner GFG Alliance is cutting costs as it battles slumping steel prices and trouble with its ageing blast furnace.
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00:00Buster Todd is a worksite supervisor in charge of a mechanical crew of 19 people for Avid
00:08Engineering, a local contractor to the Wyallis Steelworks, and on Friday he and his team
00:14will lose their full-time jobs.
00:16We haven't had an issue of getting paid by GFG. Our issue is lack of work moving forward.
00:24Buster and his colleagues will stay with Avid as casual employees, as long as the work
00:30lasts.
00:31Getting the guys in on an ad hoc basis, on an as-needs basis, so that we can still service
00:37the mines and the steelworks to the best of our ability.
00:40Avid is one of several local contractors having to make tough decisions, as the steelworks
00:45owner, GFG Alliance, cuts costs as it contends with a troubled blast furnace and a slump
00:51in global steel prices.
00:54At a community forum on Sunday, workers and residents raised their concerns.
01:01We heard of more jobs being lost today. Another 50 will go as a cleaning contractor is just
01:11moving away from it.
01:12People we've spoken to are concerned skilled workers will leave Wyalla when the work dries
01:17up and fear what that would mean for the town's long-term future.
01:22I would like to see the government step in and do something and start talking to us.
01:27We get it, we know that creditors are doing it tough, we know that people of Wyalla are
01:30doing it tough, but they're tough people. And the most important thing is we keep that
01:34blast furnace hot, making steel.
01:37GFG Alliance plans to switch from a coal to an electric arc furnace to help it make green
01:42steel using hydrogen from a power plant the state government plans to build nearby.
01:48Today a parliamentary committee heard that $593 million hydrogen project is on track
01:55and on budget, but is still in the procurement phase.
01:59We've committed to early 2026 as the target for the project and that's what we're working
02:03through our early contractor involvement process to be able to finalise the procurement.
02:09That's around 18 months to have the plant up and running.