“Australia” sinks from sight

Tuesday 15 September 2026

A nation that can’t make steel isn’t a nation. To wit.

Hundreds of workers will lose their jobs due to a decision to shut down the blast furnace at South Australia’s Whyalla steelworks.

The key piece of infrastructure, which helps convert iron ore into steel, has been deemed beyond repair.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.