Steelmaking returning to Newcastle with Greensteel Australia

Greensteel Australia has announced it will invest $500 million to build Australia’s first new steel mill in more than 30 years, returning steelmaking to Newcastle. To do so, it has secured a historic 70,000 m² site at Mayfield North. The mill will be the first in the country to run entirely on electricity, with no gas used anywhere in the process.

The Greensteel Australia site was home to the BHP Newcastle Steelworks for most of the twentieth century.

“The investment was made possible by the recent policy directions set by the NSW and federal governments,” said Greensteel Australia Head of Government Relations Patrick Buchan. “The Future Made in Australia agenda, together with national and state housing targets and NSW’s support for industry in the Hunter, has given us the certainty we need to manufacture steel in Australia rather than overseas.”

“Australia stopped building steel mills a generation ago. Thanks to the leadership of the NSW and federal governments, we’re building again,” Greensteel Australia Chief Executive Officer Romany Ibrahim said. “They’ve made it possible to bring manufacturing home to Newcastle, where Australian steelmaking began and where it never should have left.”

The mill will produce up to 600,000 tonnes of finished steel per year for the housing, transport and energy sectors. Greensteel Australia expects the extra local supply to reduce the construction industry’s reliance on imported steel and, over time, help stabilise and bring down steel prices for Australian builders. Because the process produces no direct CO₂, it will also lower the embodied carbon of Australian construction, supporting state and federal housing targets, including the national goal of 1.2 million new homes.

In a traditional mill, steel is heated in massive gas-fired furnaces that are inherently carbon-intensive. Greensteel Australia’s process replaces those fossil-fuel burners with a green solution that prioritises electricity using electric induction furnace technology.

The significance of the technology is defined by two critical advantages:

• Zero direct emissions: By using electricity to generate heat, the process produces no direct CO₂.
• Energy independence: The technology gives the facility complete independence from gas supplies, providing a stable, future-proof energy model.
   

Refurbishment and modernisation at the site will begin before the end of this year. The main equipment, including the electric induction furnace to be supplied by leading global steel infrastructure group Danieli of Italy, is expected to arrive from October 2027, and the mill is expected to be operational by January 2028.

Steel will be forged at Mayfield, with reinforcing bar the first product and wire rod and coil planned for future stages. The mill will directly employ over 200 direct fulltime staff, including fitters, electricians, crane drivers, metallurgists and engineers, with more jobs created during construction and through Hunter supply chains.

“Every tonne of steel we forge at Mayfield is a tonne Australia doesn’t have to import,” Greensteel Australia Chairman Ross Garnaut AC said. “That means more reliable supply and better prices for builders, and because there is no gas anywhere in our process, it also means lower embodied carbon in the homes and infrastructure this country needs.”

Image: Artist’s impression of the new steel mill. Credit: Greensteel Australia