Private metals developer GreenSteel Australia (GSA) will invest A$500mn ($347mn) to build the country's first steel mill to run entirely on electricity, which is scheduled to start operations in January 2028.
The proposed Mayfield North mill in Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW), will produce up to 600,000 t/yr of finished steel for Australia's housing, transport and energy sectors, the firm said. Mayfield will be the first new steel mill in Australia in over 30 years and the first to run entirely on electricity, with no gas used in the process, the firm said. The facility will operate with electric induction furnace (EIF) technology, replacing traditional fossil fuel burners with electricity.
The site previously housed Australian miner BHP's Newcastle Steelworks, which closed in 1999. The proposed works are consistent with the site's current approved use for steel fabrication, a GSA spokesperson told Argus on 9 July.
The company is finalising detailed design plans and will lodge a development application for the project soon, the spokesperson added. GSA is planning further development at the site and will announce plans for stage two of Mayfield in the coming weeks.
Site refurbishment will start at the end of 2026, with key equipment including the EIF due to arrive from October 2027 from Italian steel infrastructure firm Danieli, GSA said. The firm will initially produce reinforcing bar, with wire rod and coil production planned in later stages, and will use steel billets as feedstock, likely to be sourced from southeast Asia.
The Australian government's Future Made in Australia (FMIA) agenda encouraged the firm to invest in the project, GSA said. It has not received government funding for the Mayfield project, Argus understands.
The federal government earmarked A$1bn as part of its FMIA policy to support iron projects under its Green Iron Investment Fund (GIIF) announced in February 2025.
The GIIF aims to support early mover "green" iron projects and unlock private investment at scale, the federal government said. Green iron refers to lower-carbon intensive production methods such as hydrogen-based reduction.
Half of the GIIF — A$500mn — was allocated as part of the A$3.2bn in government funding given to the embattled 1.2mn t/yr Whyalla steelworks in South Australia in a bid to support its transformation into a green steel manufacturer.
The other A$500mn will go to other applicants across Australia. Applications closed in February and the federal government is yet to announce frontrunners.
