Overview
- South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas announced on Wednesday that Australian-owned M Resources and India’s Jindal Steel are the two final shortlisted bidders for the Whyalla steelworks.
- Shortlisted parties have been invited to submit final funding proposals and a BlueScope-led consortium retains a contractual right of last offer to match any final bid.
- State and federal governments have signalled up to about $1.9 billion is available to help recapitalise and transition the plant if a suitable buyer is confirmed.
- The steelworks’ blast furnace has been offline since April and administrators KordaMentha are using joint public funding to keep the site safe, pay wages and carry out critical works.
- Thousands of local jobs and the town’s economy depend on the sale, a preferred bidder is expected within months, and ministers say longer-term plans would replace the ageing blast furnace with lower-emission direct‑reduction and electric‑arc technology.