Australia's Troubled Steelworks Left Hoping for a New Savior

Plant owned by British tycoon and facing financial collapse forced into administration

- Jonathan Pearlman

SYDNEY - When he left school as a teenager, Mr Ryan Walsh, like many other residents in the remote South Australian town of Whyalla, followed in his father's footsteps and took a job at the local steelworks.

Mr Walsh, an operator in the plant's power and services department, has worked at the steelworks for 15 years, and would like to stay. "When I first started at the steelworks, it was the place to be. Everybody wanted to work there. There was a bit of pride when you worked," the 34-year-old father of three told The Straits Times.

But Mr Walsh's future, along with that of the entire town of 22,000 people, has been thrown into uncertainty due to the financial collapse of the Whyalla Steelworks.

The South Australian (SA) state government in February forced the plant into administration, ending its ownership by Gupta Family Group Alliance (GFG), the firm of Indian-born British steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta. The SA government said it was concerned about the plant's financial situation and the lack of investment in it.

Reflecting on the uncertain fate of the 60-year-old steelworks, which has more than 1,000 employees and supports another 2,000 indirectly, Mr Walsh said: "Life is on hold at the moment."

He added: "It is hard to see the future when you have that little bit of cloud hanging over you."

The twisting fate of the Whyalla steelworks reflects the changing nature of Australia's economy and the broader turbulence that has roiled the global steel sector.

The massive plant produces 75 per cent of Australia's structural steel and is only one of two remaining steelworks in the country. The other, at Port Kembla, south of Sydney, is profitable, though revenue has varied in recent years as Chinese demand has fluctuated.