Blast Furnace 6 Reline

Opportunity to continue with local manufacturing and support jobs in the Illawarrra is essential. Covid has shown that we need to be able to support Australian businesses locally and #6 Blast Furnace is how this may be done.
Ongoing investment in Manufacturing supports jobs across all industries and the opportunity to offer jobs locally will keep Illawarra strong and a great place to live and work.
I see the environment improvements in #6 Blast Furnace been the best for world greehouse gas reductions as it will be leading technology available at the time

The Number 6 Blast Furnace reline project supports 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in Wollongong using local contractors and suppliers. There will be upwards of 250 new jobs created during construction and the project is a $1 billion total project investment for BlueScope. The project will be completed in 3 years (by 2026) and BlueScope will spend over $100m in environmental improvement upgrades to prepare the business for green steelmaking in the future. This is an exciting and critical project for the Illawarra region.

I support steelmaking in Australia.

The ability of BlueScope to continue manufacturing steel at Port Kembla is of Regional and National importance. The steelworks are a strategic national asset in times of global uncertainty, and all efforts to ensure its viability into the future must be supported.

This is a critical investment to maintain the sovereign capability of steel making in this country and is a solid solution until alternate low emissions processing options are available at scale.

I support this Project.

The approval of this Project will:
- secure steelmaking in Australia for another 20 years,
- support the direct and indirect jobs in the Illawarra and abroad,
- be a benefit to all in NSW.

I support this project as it will guarantee the future of Australian steel making, support thousands of jobs, create jobs during construction and maintain the jobs of those already employed by the steelworks.
Very good for both the local community and Australia as a whole.

Good job security in the region for the future

I support the Blast Furnace 6 project for the following reasons:
1. The project will create up to 10,000 direct and indirect jobs which also helps support our economy.
2. Helps support our local Wollongong businesses and communities.
3. Will improve the environment due to the planned upgrades.

Australia needs its own steel making and not have to rely on other country’s
Besides the jobs and economy it creates it is also a defence need in these uncertain times

Hi, I am submitting my support for this significant Illawarra project. I am a medium term Illawarra resident & have spent nearly 50 years working in and around the steel industry or in allied industries as an employee or consultant. We also have our children/young grandchildren based in the Illawarra and at least until they're adult large businesses like BlueScope help sustain much of the larger community resources, businesses and infrastructure including schools. I am unashamedly proud that the industry has provided extremely satisfying and rewarding work for me and many of my friends over this long period and wish that the younger generations also have the opportunity to live similar experiences.
It has always please me to observe and at times to be part of a significant enterprise which has embraced and at times lead technological innovation. The business can only do this if it is provided with an operating environment in which it can have a fair chance of being sustainable across all fronts, including financial & environmental.
While we're all generally aligned with the community views that climate change and needing to divert to greener forms of lining and industry we nonetheless also need industries the be able to thrive and survive to allow these generational changes to occur.
The proposed plans for the next reline campaign show BlueScope's commitment to making further improvements in their environmental performance.
I am excited that BlueScope have outlined their medium to longer term future plans to become lower emitter and how the 6 Blast Furnace reline supports their longer term strategy.
While all the major projects need conditions and constraints for them to comply with, I urge your decision makers to balance the environmental/ the communities which are close neighbors with potentially the most immediate impact of the operations with the broader need for BlueScope to be able to effectively and profitably operate and assist the broader Illawarra business and local communities also thrive.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to review this supportive submission

This is a great investment into the local community for current employees and surrounding businesses for now and well into the future.

It's an important project that will employ many people in the region. Steel remains an important building material for industry and domestic, and will for many decades to come, with no viable alternative on the horizon. If we don't make steel we'll have to import it.
It's just sensible that the Blast Furnace 6 Reline project is performed.

I’ll preface these remarks with three observations:-

1. that earlier this year the NSW Minister for Energy and the Environment, the Hon. Matt. Kean suggested that the Illawarra region, and in particular an area within Port Kembla, “is one of two key regions in the state that can benefit from becoming a green hydrogen hub”. This was widely reported in the press: for a full account see:
https://research.csiro.au/hyresource/port-kembla-hydrogen-hub

2. that according to the Financial Review (Jan. 3rd. 2022) the price of iron ore topped $US200 a tonne in 2021, a ‘record breaking year’. This, Australia’s most valuable export, has continued at and above this price since, and with the cost of timber going higher because of international sanctions against Russia, new iron-ore records are likely to be set in this bull-run.

3. that on Feb. 21st this year BlueScope announced a record after tax net profit of $1.64 billion:
“BlueScope today reported 1H FY2022 net profit after tax (NPAT) of $1.64 billion, a $1.31 billion increase over 1H FY2021. Confirming the record financial result, Managing Director and CEO, Mark Vassella said, ‘Underlying EBIT for the half year was $2.20 billion, clearly the best half-year performance BlueScope has produced in its 20-year history as a listed company.’”
For more complete coverage:
https://www.bluescope.com/bluescope-news/2022/02/bluescope-1h-fy2022-financial-results

So we have
1. Port Kembla suggested at a NSW Gov. ministerial level as a potential future green hydrogen hub, and
2. one of our country’s richest companies not just making record profits but likely to continue to do so into the foreseeable future.



I come now to the proposed relining of the blast furnace: project SSI-22545215.
If this is to go ahead it must be done to newest standards: those that will allow the furnace to be fuelled by green hydrogen. That is unequivocally environmentally sensible, scientific, safe and (obviously) affordable. It may also well have the backing of the NSW Government.

I understand that this technology is already in operation in Europe. If Australia’s pathway, following world best-practice, is to produce zero-emissions steel, this technology is the way to go. If BlueScope has a future in Wollongong then upgrading to this technological seems palpably obvious.

1st I am working everyday at Bluescope as a contractor and I confirm it is a nice company: very fair, ethic, paying attention to people’s wellbeing and environment

2nd Before green steel technology is available we (australia) need for few years a blast furnace that can run until then and ensure we keep in house - in australia the associated process knowhow.

3rd: steel will always be needed - especially if we want to reduce our co2 footprint (more trains and rail, more wind farms … requiring more steel)

But the reason above all is geopolitic.
Once China will have invaded Taiwan, the world will try to set an embargo around China (that is a big supplier of steel). At this time any other big alternative sources of steel will be required to cope with a massive surge in demand. I hope we’ll have our B/F 6 ready at this time and even dream we could run 2 B/F to supply the world with ‘Steel from a democratic country’. Pierre

This is an important project for our community

This is a great opportunity for the region which will aid in employment and infustracture whilst remaining competitive in the global steel industry

This is such an important project to maintain this critical infrastructure for Australia. Excellent to see BlueScope maintaining it's leading edge over foreign sources.

I support the 6BF Reline project for the following reasons
The project will enable further high skill employment in the Illawarra Region specifically engineering and technical trades.
The project will maintain sovereign steel making capability in NSW and Australia
The project is the only viable path to bridge the gap to future green steel technologies emerging at and industrial scale the are technically and commercial viable.

The Number 6 Blast Furnace Reline Project will secure steel making in the region for decades to come including ongoing employment of more than 10,000 indirect and direct jobs.