New Dwellings Up, Whyalla Back 

A slight increase in the number of new dwellings commenced in the March quarter is welcome news for the steel industry. However, the eye-catching figure within the modest 0.5% overall rise was the increase in new private sector house commencements which rose by 4.8% to 25,072 dwellings. That said, new private house starts are still down by 6.7% on the March 2023 level. The Australian Bureau of Statistics also reports there were 226,307 total sector dwellings under construction in the March quarter of which 90,369 were new houses. In further good news, steelmaking has resumed at the Whyalla steelworks after its parent company, GFG Alliance, was able to restart the blast furnace. The furnace had become unusable when it cooled excessively.