
Call for steel to be ‘essential’
THE Australian Steel Institute (ASI) has called on the Government to classify the steel industry as essential. The peak industry body represents the entire steel industry value chain, including major producer members BlueScope Steel, InfraBuild Steel, Molycop and Bisalloy, and says the industry must be kept operational in the event of severe lockdowns designed to slow the spread of COVID-19. In a joint statement with the Australian Workers' Union, the ASI said steel was a high capital cost industry with low people density and high value. “The steel industry already practices very high standards of hygiene to protect all employees from routine work health and safety risks,” they said. “These practices have been galvanised and heighted since the outbreak of...