Newcastle's bygone era as the Steel City is back, with a $500 million investment to build Australia's first new steel mill in more than 30 years.
Greensteel Australia will announce today it has secured the historic former BHP Newcastle Steelworks site for the first Australian steel mill to run entirely on electricity.
Expected to be operational by January 2028, the mill will forge Newcastle's first return to steel production since more than 100 years of steelmaking ended at Molycop's Waratah site in 2024.
Greensteel chief executive officer Romany Ibrahim said Australia stopped building steel mills a generation ago.
"Thanks to the leadership of the NSW and federal governments, we're building again," Mr Ibrahim said.
"They've made it possible to bring manufacturing home to Newcastle, where Australian steelmaking began and where it never should have left."
Just days after the state announced plans to establish a $12 billion passenger train building pipeline in the Hunter, the steel mill further signals a return to domestic manufacturing.
Today's announcement is just the first stage, with a second announcement expected to be made in the coming weeks.
"Mayfield is just the start," Mr Ibrahim said.
"This is stage one, watch this space."
If approved, the steel mill will produce up to 600,000 tonnes of finished steel a year and directly employ more than 200 full-time staff.
The roster would include fitters, electricians, crane drivers, metallurgists and engineers, with more jobs expected to be created during construction and through Hunter supply chains.
Greensteel head of government relations Patrick Buchan said the investment was made possible by recent policy directions set by the state and federal governments.
"The Future Made in Australia agenda, together with national and state housing targets and NSW's support for industry in the Hunter, has given us the certainty we need to manufacture steel in Australia rather than overseas," Mr Buchan said.
The 70,000 square metre site on Industrial Drive, at Mayfield North, was home to the BHP steelworks for most of the 20th century before it closed in September 1999.
No gas will be used anywhere in the process in an Australian first.
The site would be producing finished steel for the housing, transport and energy sectors.
Greensteel expects the extra local supply to reduce the construction industry's reliance on imported steel and, over time, help stabilise and slash steel prices for Australian builders.
Because the process produces no direct carbon dioxide, it will reduce the carbon footprint of Australia's construction industry and help support state and federal housing targets, including the national goal of building 1.2 million new homes.
At the centre of the transformation is electric induction furnace technology.
In a traditional mill, steel is heated in massive, carbon-intensive gas-fired furnaces.
Greensteel's process replaces those fossil-fuel burners with a solution that prioritises electricity and taps into renewable energy grids.
Modernisation works at the site will begin before the end of the year. Global steel infrastructure group Danieli of Italy will supply the main equipment, such as the all-electric induction furnace, expected to arrive from October 2027.
Steel will be forged at Mayfield, with reinforcing bar set to be the first product and wire rod and coil planned for future stages.
Greensteel chairman Ross Garnaut said every tonne of steel forged at Mayfield is a tonne that the country does not have to import.
"That means more reliable supply and better prices for builders, and because there is no gas anywhere in our process, it also means lower embodied carbon in the homes and infrastructure this country need," Mr Garnaut said.
"That's a win for builders and homebuyers, and a win for the Hunter."
Once operational, Greensteel expects its facility will help strengthen domestic steel supply, support Australian manufacturing and position the country to play a greater role in the future of global steelmaking.
