A new $105 million package to support the overseas owner of the Port Pirie smelter has been secured, with the SA taxpayer to pay $35 million to support it but there is no long term plan for with Whyalla or the Port Pirie smelters.
The general manager of Nyrstar, the owner of the smelter, today claimed the company was losing $15 million per month on its Australian operations.
It comes as Whyalla steelworks, buoyed by more than $2 billion of state and federal government money, has been dormant since April – the premier confirming today its blast furnace was still shut down.
The Federal Government said the funding will support operations at both smelters during 2026, helping maintain vital industrial capability and jobs.
It was expected the new money would prop up both smelters until the end of November this year.
Nyrstar is a major employer in the region, with around 1,050 workers at the Port Pirie facility, representing approximately 10 per cent of the local workforce.
Federal Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said this money would support the continued operations of the facilities in SA and Tasmania as the “next phase of work is completed”.
The latest announcement comes after a $135 million rescue packagesupporting Nyrstar smelters in South Australia and Tasmania expired in May. Those funds have been used.
The state government previously invested $55 million with the Commonwealth Government contributing $57.5 million and the Tasmanian government contributed the remaining $22.5 million.
The 130-year-old smelter at Port Pirie was struggling financially prior to the joint investment in 2025, with Nyrstar’s Singaporean owner Trafigura calling for government support in order to stay afloat.
The change in the smelting business, the loss of what’s called treatment charges, the change in most of the financial metrics which make up a smelting business, have dramatically eroded the profitability of smelting across most of the world.