Whyalla steelworks cuts more than 500 jobs as major operations shut down

The workforce from the Whyalla steelworks, its port, and an associated mine will be reduced from 1,700 to about 1,200, according to administrators KordaMentha. Photograph: Lincoln Fowler/Alamy

Hundreds of workers at Whyalla’s steelworks will lose their jobs after the heart of the operations – the blast furnace – repeatedly failed to fire, in a devastating economic blow for the South Australian seaport city.

The decision to abandon further revival efforts will effectively shut down most of the operations at one of Australia’s two remaining steel facilities – and the last to manufacture rail steel in the country.