Molycop: 250 job losses as steel-making operations cease at Waratah

The AWU estimates about half of the 250 workers who will be made redundant are its members.

The union will be working with Molycop management to ensure all affected workers receive their full entitlements and re-training opportunities, AWU NSW branch secretary Tony Callinan said.

"This announcement will come as a painful shock to workers, many of whom have worked at that site for their whole working lives," Mr Callinan said.

"This steel mill has been operating for over a century, sustaining livelihoods and the community.

"Today's announcement represents a sad day for the Hunter and a sad day for the Australian manufacturing industry."

He said right now the immediate focus is working with the company to "minimise the pain".

"Expressions of interest for voluntary redundancies from across the entire site will hopefully minimise forced redundancies and there will be re-training opportunities for those who need to continue working," he said.

MOLYCOP has announced it will cease steel-making operations at Waratah, leaving 250 workers at the site without jobs.

The company, which provides consumables and productivity solutions to the mining industry, has announced its plans to restructure its steel-making operations, placing it on "care and maintenance" while it evaluates alternatives.

The decision will make 250 of the 540 roles at the Waratah site redundant.

Molycop Australasia president Michael Parker said it was a difficult decision but one they believe will best position the company for success in the long term.

"It will be a challenging time as dedicated employees leave our business, and the company is committed to providing comprehensive support for those employees," he said.

He said the decision would align the Waratah business model with Molycop's other operations around the globe.

Molycop claims it has started consultation with affected employees, government and other stakeholders about the decision.

Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) Newcastle lead organiser Brad Pidgeon said he met with Molycop this morning and was told about the 'transition'.

"From a trades perspective there are about 50 to 60 people including apprentices that will be affected," he said.

"It's a significant impact to workers in the local steel industry, the timing of this is not good especially coming into Christmas as well.

"AMWU will certainly be advocating for our members to be best placed in re-deployments across the business or other industries across the Hunter."

Mr Pidgeon said there was no consultation on the decision prior to the meeting this morning, after which the affected workers were told.

"There's a lot of mixed emotions, we do have some members that are looking at retirement options so redundancy may be beneficial for them, but this impacts young apprentices, first-year apprentices just starting out in their careers who now don't have a job moving forward," he said.

"A lot of it is to do with costs, it's cheaper to import steel from overseas.

"Our concern when we talk about our sovereign capability and bringing back domestic manufacturing is that if we look at things Molycop produce, like rail wheels, it's our preference for those to be manufactured out of Australian made steel as opposed to imported steel."

Mr Pidgeon said the AMWU would continue to have open dialogue with the company on behalf of its members to achieve the best outcome for their interests.

In 2021, Molycop warned it may stop steel production if Australia's Anti-Dumping Commission did not increase tariffs on Chinese steel imports.

The company told the national Anti-Dumping Commission that without an increase in tariffs on imports of Chinese-made steel grinding balls, which are used in gold, copper and lithium mining, production using local steel would become unviable.

Molycop said all affected employees will receive entitlements based on years of service, which will result in payments of up to 104 weeks of pay and average payments of 50 weeks.

In addition, it said it will provide a range of support services, including offers to redeploy staff within Molycop and job search support.

The company will continue to manufacture grinding media, rail wheels and other specialised steel products at Waratah.

It will also expand investment in its core consumables product lines, as well as its Molycop 360 and Molycop Process Optimisation businesses.

According to the company, it will continue providing products and services to its customers and will also focus on growing its sustainability and productivity technology solutions.

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