InfraBuild has issued a rallying call to the steel industry and related sectors to support manufacturing in Australia. “We don’t just produce steel, we build futures. Every tonne of steel made here supports Australian jobs, fuels innovation and reinforces our sovereign capability. It’s not just about business, it’s about national resilience,” said InfraBuild´s CEO, Francisco Irazusta, in a statement released on October 29. InfraBuild is Australia´s largest long products manufacturer, and the country´s second-largest metals recycler. It employs more than 4,600 people nationwide. “From infrastructure to housing, defence to renewables, our ability to deliver depends on a strong, self-reliant industrial base. We must protect and grow this capability, not just for today’s economy, but for generations to come,” Mr Irazusta added. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, manufacturing accounted for 14% of Australia´s GDP in the late 1970s, however it now contributes just 5% to the economy. On a global basis, Australia has the lowest manufacturing share of any country in the OECD. Mr Irazusta said imported steel products have been undercutting the Australian market in recent years and that this threatens the viability

not only of our steel industry, but also of the jobs, skills and innovation that comprise manufacturing in Australia. By mentioning “sovereign capability”, the InfraBuild CEO opened a can of worms. Sovereign capability is a worthy ambition which is virtually impossible to achieve. It effectively means that a country is able to make, maintain and dispose of all the things it depends on for everyday life. A recent case in point was the Covid19 pandemic, when global supply chains were shot to pieces. A country with sovereign capability could still have made and delivered to its people the things they needed – on time and on budget. The Future Made In Australia Fund is an attempt by the Albanese government to ensure we maintain some level of sovereign capability in as many industrial sectors as possible. But, at what cost? Well, for starters, $22.7 billion, which is the amount the Future Made In Australia Bill, 2024 has set aside to fulfill the policy´s aims over the next decade. However, one might argue that the mere existence of the Fund may have given rise to a belief (or hope, or expectation) in some parts of Australia that any company suffering difficulties need only ask the federal government for a bailout….and so it shall arrive. The $2.4 billion joint federal and South Australian state governments bailout of the Whyalla Steelworks comes to mind. So too does the $600 million bailout of Glencore´s Mt Isa copper smelter; and the rescue of Nyrstar´s Port Pirie and Hobart enterprises. In each case, the claim was quite rightly made that allowing those enterprises to go bust would precipitate large job losses and a further degradation of Australia´s manufacturing capacity. But, with limited resources to go around, who should sink and who should swim?

As the car manufacturing industry in Australia began declining in the face of cheaper imported vehicles 50 years ago, dark times were predicted for Australian motorists who (as it turns out) are now just as happy in their KIAs and Toyotas as they were in their Holdens and Fords. One might be tempted to say the loss of car manufacturing didn´t matter. But what about all the other manufacturing sectors which have also declined during the same period – unseen by the public – and thus eroding Australia´s manufacturing base and its sovereign capability? Toolmaking and engineering pattern-making was once a thriving trade but has been shrinking since the early 2000s and declined sharply after the final closure of the Australian automotive industry in 2017. According to the latest Census, there are only 2,220 toolmakers and engineering pattern-makers left in Australia. That’s a 70% decrease between 2006 and 2021. Is it short-sighted to allow Australia to become predominantly a services economy, with support from mining, agriculture and tourism?

“We are calling on everyone who believes in the strength of Australian industry to stand with us,” Mr Irazusta declared. He asked InfraBuild´s customers to choose Australian-made not just for quality, but for impact. To suppliers, he urged a more transparent and future-focused supply chain which benefits all. And to government and policymakers, he said – move faster to solve the problem. “Safeguard measures in the US and Europe are already reshaping global trade dynamics and putting pressure on Australian producers. Without swift action through fair trade policies, infrastructure investment and innovation incentives, we risk falling behind,” Mr Irazusta said. “This is not just about InfraBuild it’s about all of us”.

BlueScope Steel has also been particularly vocal of late about the damage being done to the steel industry and to manufacturing more broadly by high energy prices. In October, BlueScope’s managing director and CEO, Mark Vassella, officially launched Manufacturing Australia’s ‘Fair Gas Prices’ campaign at the National Press Club in Canberra. In his address, Mr Vassella said Australia has so much gas we can afford to export 75% of it, but the mere fact of doing so leaves our local manufacturers paying up to three times more than competitors overseas. “We’re calling on political and industry leaders to recognise the economic benefit that flows from our sovereign manufacturing capability and the potential to grow it – if we have access to fairly-priced gas and allow our manufacturers to compete internationally,” he said.

Mr Vassella will step down as managing director and CEO next February after eight years at the helm. As one of his last acts, he has overseen BlueScope´s planned sale of its 50% stake in Tata BlueScope Steel (TBSL), located in India. TBSL was established in 2005 and has provided coated and painted steel products in India to both the building and construction markets. Net proceeds after taxes and fees of $179 million are expected in the second half of FY2026. An estimated $70 million net profit after tax is expected on the sale. The BlueScope Steel board announced on November 5 that Tania Archibald will succeed Mark Vassella as the company´s managing director and CEO. She will be the first woman to hold that position. Ms Archibald has been with BlueScope for 30 years and is currently its chief executive of the Australian steel products business. BlueScope is presently in a consortium considering a bid for the Whyalla Steelworks. Ms Archibald will face an early test in her new role, with investors already urging BlueScope not to overstretch itself in any move to buy the loss-making plant.