Bluescope Steel will shut down operations at its Port Kembla tin mill, leaving the future of 80 workers in doubt. On a dark day for Australian mining and manufacturing yesterday, mining giant BHP Billiton also announced it would cut 3300 Australian jobs as a result of the global financial crisis.The Mercury can reveal BlueScope workers at Port Kembla were told yesterday that pickle line and cold mill operations in the former tin mill, which had become "unsustainable" would cease next month.BlueScope said the 1960s vintage plant could no longer compete with new facilities overseas.All operations would end in the former tin mill, where 250 jobs were cut in April 2007.BlueScope "expects to be able to redeploy" its 50 employees, but unions hold serious concerns for workers in another 30 contract positions."The pickle line and cold mill have continued to produce cold rolled full hard product since the tinplate and finishing operations ceased in April 2007, principally for ... our Asian businesses," a spokesman said."During the past 12 months the cold reduction assets have been operating at significantly low levels and this is an unsustainable position going forward."Tremendous efforts by employees to deliver significant improvements in product quality and yield through improved operations, maintenance and quality standards have failed to keep the plant competitive against fierce Asian competition including new facilities overseas which deliver significant conversion cost advantages," the spokesman said.Australian Workers' Union Port Kembla branch secretary Andy Gillespie and union officials held discussions with BlueScope yesterday."I'm concerned about that aspect of the business closing down and jobs that could be lost," Mr Gillespie said.The global economic crisis has crippled the steel trade.Late last year, BlueScope cut 200 contractor positions from Port Kembla which has so far resulted in about 50 redundancies from Illawarra contract companies.BlueScope has tried to cushion the impact of the financial crisis on staff numbers by bringing forward the reline of its No 5 blast furnace.Meantime, BHP Billiton said none of its 3300 axed jobs would be from the Southern Coalfields, which includes the Illawarra.