LIBERTY Steelworks brings Clip Plant to Whyalla

In exciting news for our Whyalla Steelworks team, the site now boasts its very own, dedicated Trak Lok Clip Plant. Their plan now is to ensure reliable and consistent production is achieved as part of the operational ramp up.

The Clip Plant project team first mobilized in June last year. Working together to overcome numerous challenges (COVID included!), and in just six months the team has taken an empty shed and some shipping containers full of decommissioned equipment, and delivered a fully operational plant.

It’s an impressive team effort and clear evidence of GFG’s continued commitment to building and investing in Whyalla. Even better, according to General Manager of Sales & Marketing for LIBERTY Australia, Anthony Stuart, “It’s consolidating our footprint locally, creating a value add for our products, and it’s delivering an end-to-end solution for our customers that will make life easier for them.”

But let’s back up a bit. In 2019 the Steelworks site sourced clips from a clip plant in Lonsdale, an outer suburb of Adelaide about 4.5 hours south east of Whyalla. When that site was demobilised in September 2019, much of the decommissioned equipment was packed up into four shipping containers and sent to rest on the vast Whyalla site.

In June 2020, following a push by the Whyalla team to create an end-to-end solution for rail customers, the Whyalla Clip Plant project team was formed.

In a flurry of activity over the course of the next few months, they identified a new home for the plant, worked with engineers, completed the appropriate risk and safety assessments, undertook electrical work, installed cooling towers, plumbed in water, and rebuilt the plant. Some new equipment was required, and supports and vents and pumps had to be installed, but by December 10, the team has produced their very first mild steel clip.

To celebrate, the Steel Products team hosted a little ribbon cutting ceremony (take a look at the 60 second video below), and they’ve also shared some progress shots of the plant as well. Enjoy!

Congrats again to the team!