Unwelcome but not unexpected news today that 580 jobs (200 Arrium employees, 380 contractors) will be lost at Arrium due to the fall in iron ore prices. Peculiar Knob south of Coober Pedy will be mothballed. Most of the workforce at Peculiar Knob is fly-in fly-out. Iron ore exports through Arriums Outer Harbour in Whyalla will cease. The Inner Harbour at Whyalla will continue to export 9 million tonnes per year. Job losses are never welcome, they hurt workers, families and communities. In order to sustain the business Arrium have had to make some difficult decisions. Operations at he Middleback Ranges will continue, Whyalla will continue to export iron ore and the Steelworks will continue to produce steel. Work to improve efficiencies at the Middleback Ranges in order to reduce the cost of mining and transporting ore may ultimately have a beneficial effect on the Steelworks by reducing input costs. I have strongly urged my State Government colleagues to support our domestic steel industry by giving preference to the use of Australian produced long products in major State-funded construction projects. I have also asked the State Government to lobby the Commonwealth Government to provide support for our domestic steel industry. We cannot sugar coat the bad news, but at the end of the day we need Arrium to be viable in order to secure our long-term future.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 05:13:06 +0000
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