As much as 30,000 tonnes of Port Kembla steel will be used to build a 270-kilometre water pipeline to Broken Hill.
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The NSW government announced the project on Monday, stating that one of the conditions of the contract was that it be built with Australian steel.
This will see BlueScope supply at least 25,000 tonnes of hot rolled coil from the Port Kembla strip mill, with a spokesman saying the final figure could be as high as 30,000 tonnes.
By comparison, the Sydney Harbour Bridge used around 50,000 tonnes.
Steel destined for the pipeline is already being made at BlueScope and the Broken Hill project is expected to take 12 months to complete.
The BlueScope spokesman said the company was pleased that the government chose to use Australian steel.
“We welcome the announcement made by Minister for Regional Water Niall Blair and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, which signalled the NSW government’s preference to use Australian steel and local suppliers for the 270-kilometre Murray River to Broken Hill pipeline,” the spokesman said.
“This follows sweeping reforms to Australian steel procurement a few months ago.
“We are particularly pleased the domestic supply chain was given the opportunity to compete on a level playing field for work on this pipeline.
“By choosing more than 25,000 tonnes of BlueScope steel for this project, the NSW government are supporting Australian jobs and Australian manufacturing, including the 19,000 direct and indirect jobs in NSW that are underpinned by BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks.”