BlueScope and powerful friends eye South Australian steel works

The announcement Monday by Australia's BlueScope Steel that it is leading an international consortium of Japanese, Indian and Korean steelmakers to buy the struggling Whyalla steel works in South Australia has fuelled considerable speculation, even though the state government says over 15 other domestic and international parties have also expressed interest in buying the steel works' assets.

"The consortium has identified Whyalla as a prospective location for future production of lower emissions iron in Australia for both domestic and export markets, with the potential to play an important role in the decarbonisation of the global steelmaking industry," BlueScope's statement to the Australian Stock Exchange said. "Should