{"id":396218,"date":"2025-08-19T17:43:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=396218"},"modified":"2025-08-19T17:43:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:43:58","slug":"energy-crisis-in-australia-costs-are-3-or-4-times-higher-than-the-us-manufacturing-is-at-a-tipping-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=396218","title":{"rendered":"Energy Crisis in Australia: Costs are 3 or 4 times higher than the US, manufacturing is at a \u2018tipping point\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JoNova<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jo Nova<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Molten<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What\u2019s left of Australian manufacturing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The CEO of\u00a0Bluescope Steel<\/a>\u00a0is a fan of renewables, but for Mark Vassella to make steel, what he wants is cheap gas, not wind and solar power \u2014 and he\u2019s getting desperate. These are strong words from a CEO of one our Big-50. \u201cManufacturing is at a \u2018tipping point<\/em>\u201d he says.\u00a0\u201cEnergy costs are now 3 to 4 times higher than the US\u201d<\/em>.\u00a0 Furthermore, \u201cWithout immediate intervention there will be no Future Made in Australia.\u201d \u2014<\/em>\u00a0He twists the knife, talking about the PM\u2019s pet project (the one where we somehow make solar and wind power here cheaper than the slaves do in China. )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s especially scathing of the idea that one of the biggest exporters of LNG in the world, now has to import it back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c In what world does exporting LNG in massive quantities only to re-import it to supply a shorter domestic market make any sense? It\u2019s like importing sand into the Sahara.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vassella knows US and Australian energy prices all too well. Bluescope also own the North Star steel mill in Ohio and is looking to expand further in the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BlueScope CEO: Manufacturing at \u2018tipping point\u2019 over energy costs<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By Perry Williams, The Australian<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, the situation is more dire than ever,\u201d BlueScope chief executive Mark Vassella said after its annual results on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cManufacturing is at a tipping point with energy costs that are no longer just too high, but unsustainable. What was once our competitive advantage is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd let me be really clear about this,\u201d Mr Vassella said. \u201cThis does not increase our sovereign risk. Restricting exporters from buying domestic gas for re-export and prioritising domestic supply over LNG imports. In what world does exporting LNG in massive quantities only to re-import it to supply a shorter domestic market make any sense? It\u2019s like importing sand into the Sahara.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

BlueScope warns soaring energy costs threaten Australian manufacturing as profit drops 90pc<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ABC News<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BlueScope has sounded the alarm over Australia\u2019s energy crisis, warning that unsustainably high gas prices are pushing domestic manufacturing to a \u201ctipping point\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The steelmaker has reported a full year profit of $84 million, a 90 per cent drop from the $721 million reported a year ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout immediate intervention there will be no Future Made in Australia.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Vassella said BlueScope had submitted a detailed response to the federal government\u2019s Gas Market Review including suggested immediate and long-term changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least he\u2019s honest about why he likes unreliable generators \u2014 they buy his steel. So he repeats the impossible mantra:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need more energy, we need it to be renewable, we need it to be reliable, we need it to be affordable,\u201d Mr Vassella said. \u201cAnd we were supportive of the wind industry. Our products go into the wind farm industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just so everyone can appreciate the historic inanity of our situation \u2014 this graph below is the state of the top five players in the global LNG export market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia is sending off ships full of LNG only to pay someone else to turn them around and send them back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graph
EIA\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alternately we could just dig up more brown coal, more black coal, some uranium, or we could explore for more gas, but we don\u2019t because we dream of being a better global weather controller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly the US has launched itself out of bottom left during the first Trump presidency, right through Covid, and it kept on growing (despite Joe and Kamala).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Smelter From a  Bluescope video <\/a>| Photo: LNG carrie by Shahamah<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CEO of\u00a0Bluescope Steel\u00a0is a fan of renewables, but for Mark Vassella to make steel, what he wants is cheap gas, not wind and solar power \u2014 and he\u2019s getting desperate. These are strong words from a CEO of one our Big-50. \u201cManufacturing is at a \u2018tipping point\u201d he says.\u00a0\u201cEnergy costs are now 3 to 4 times higher than the US\u201d.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":396228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Australia's Energy Crisis: Manufacturing at a Tipping Point","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818216,691837391,691819180,691819630,691823224,691837392],"class_list":{"0":"post-396218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-bluescope-steel","10":"tag-energy-costs","11":"tag-energy-crisis","12":"tag-manufacturing","13":"tag-mark-vassella","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ChatGPT-Image-23.-Juni-2025-09_33_37.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1F4C","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":397638,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=397638","url_meta":{"origin":396218,"position":0},"title":"Net Zero Rebellion Growing in Australia","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/08\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Three state branches of Australia\u2019s main opposition party have voted to dump Net Zero.","rel":"","context":"In \"Australia\"","block_context":{"text":"Australia","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQMtPIFWw7pco5A2ByqVIPatNfFGy6nhUV0cp9Ga3v2BYGhaM1MsxkFIsqZ7GIAASpSJixdH95I2Ow-Kh3MehjSC1vWe2SKPQzzFWNlOdwhxa_nSZUu6hNB0oVFeJt_eHvAMMbha-I954UJPYzlCLXxW8y5vwg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQMtPIFWw7pco5A2ByqVIPatNfFGy6nhUV0cp9Ga3v2BYGhaM1MsxkFIsqZ7GIAASpSJixdH95I2Ow-Kh3MehjSC1vWe2SKPQzzFWNlOdwhxa_nSZUu6hNB0oVFeJt_eHvAMMbha-I954UJPYzlCLXxW8y5vwg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQMtPIFWw7pco5A2ByqVIPatNfFGy6nhUV0cp9Ga3v2BYGhaM1MsxkFIsqZ7GIAASpSJixdH95I2Ow-Kh3MehjSC1vWe2SKPQzzFWNlOdwhxa_nSZUu6hNB0oVFeJt_eHvAMMbha-I954UJPYzlCLXxW8y5vwg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQMtPIFWw7pco5A2ByqVIPatNfFGy6nhUV0cp9Ga3v2BYGhaM1MsxkFIsqZ7GIAASpSJixdH95I2Ow-Kh3MehjSC1vWe2SKPQzzFWNlOdwhxa_nSZUu6hNB0oVFeJt_eHvAMMbha-I954UJPYzlCLXxW8y5vwg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQMtPIFWw7pco5A2ByqVIPatNfFGy6nhUV0cp9Ga3v2BYGhaM1MsxkFIsqZ7GIAASpSJixdH95I2Ow-Kh3MehjSC1vWe2SKPQzzFWNlOdwhxa_nSZUu6hNB0oVFeJt_eHvAMMbha-I954UJPYzlCLXxW8y5vwg.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":439611,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=439611","url_meta":{"origin":396218,"position":1},"title":"Green Dream Turns Nightmare: Renewables Decimate Australian Industry","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/04\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Energy-intensive sectors like steel, aluminum, and chemicals continue facing acute pressure. 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