The resumption of steel production in Whyalla
14 January 2025
GFG Alliance Chairman Sanjeev Gupta says he’s very proud of the fighting spirit which has seen steel production resume at the Whyalla Steelworks.
“There was a lot of courage in our business, especially Whyalla and we persevered… It is the GFG spirit to keep fighting and to never give up and Whyalla absolutely epitomizes that,” Sanjeev said.
In episode five of the Steel Town podcast Sanjeev speaks about the resumption of steel production after a four month shut down due to operational challenges and extensive repairs.
I think should see this year being a better year, but not necessarily a perfect year or an easy year because it will take time
GFG Alliance Chairman Sanjeev Gupta

The Chairman also reflects on 2024 during which Whyalla produced less than 25% of its capacity.
“So it was a very difficult year and it will go down in history as one of our toughest years, but also a year of much learning.”
“We became more efficient, we cut costs everywhere… We did a lot of improvements and those learnings and those improvements we need to carry with us into the future.”
Of 2025, Sanjeev says it will be much better given we have broken the back of the problem with the steelworks running at about 70%.
“I think should see this year being a better year, but not necessarily a perfect year or an easy year because it will take time.”
“The solution is Back to Black. That’s the most important critical step is that we need to stop losing money, no matter how strong a company is, no matter how strong a balance sheet is you cannot keep losing money at the rate we’ve been losing last year. So that has to stop and…our target to stop within this financial year.”
Hear more from Sanjeev including details of his meeting with State Government and committed to green steel and iron in episode five of the Steel Town podcast on Spotify iOS YouTube or click on the image below:
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