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A first meeting of Arrium\u2019s creditors is being held today, with the iron and steel business\u2019s administrator saying the future hinges on the Whyalla\u2019s steelworks.<\/p>\nA first meeting of Arrium\u2019s creditors is being held today, with the iron and steel business\u2019s administrator saying the future hinges on the Whyalla\u2019s steelworks.<\/p>\n
Mark Mentha of insolvency firm KordaMentha said most of the company, which owes around $4 billion, is in good shape, but was exposed to the survival of Whyalla. Arrium, which entered voluntary administration this month, has said it was undertaking studies on the effects of mothballing the loss-making plant.<\/p>\n
Turning the steel factory around was vital to both Arrium and the community, Mentha told the ABC.<\/p>\n
“It’s the front end of the business where we dig the ore out of the ground and feed that into the mill starts the whole steel process<\/strong>,” he told AM.<\/p>\n “In Whyalla, in particular, many of the businesses in that town are in some way connected to the steel works. So it’s a business that is very much interwoven into the fabric of that community and the state of South Australia.<\/strong><\/p>\n The creditors meeting is being held in Sydney and streamed to workers in SA.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Australian Workers Union has called on the federal government to consider co-investment in the steel facility, with modernising to supply the upcoming offshore patrol vessels a \u201cgolden opportunity\u201d for Arrium.<\/p>\n