Mining, infrastructure projects boost local workshops

Steel fabrication workshops on the Kwinana industrial strip have secured some big contracts.

COAL producers, iron ore miners, gold projects and the state government have collectively delivered a boost to local industry, as the push to lift local content on big projects gathers momentum.

The winners have included Henderson-based Civmec, Kwinana-based Doina Construction & Engineering and thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (Australia), which shifted its Australian head office to Western Australia last year.

Thyssenkrupp this month completed one of its biggest fabrication and construction projects in WA.

The $100 million project for the Port Kembla coal terminal in NSW involved construction of three coal stackers and a giant reclaimer, using 3,500 tonnes of steel fabricated in WA.

When the 1,490t reclaimer is lifted onto a heavy-lift vessel for its journey to Port Kembla, it will be the biggest piece of machinery ever to be loaded onto a ship in a single lift at the Australian Marine Complex.

Premier Mark McGowan said this milestone was a great accomplishment for thyssenkrupp and its sub-contractors.

“This complicated, heavy engineering project, constructed using local labour, local skills, and local infrastructure, is a good example of WA’s competitiveness and capacity,” he said.

Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (Australia) chief executive Andrew Howie said the facilities at the Australian Marine Complex helped his company produce high-quality infrastructure far more efficiently than some of its competitors.

“This project highlights the capability for innovative, major engineering projects in the region while benefiting the local economy,” Mr Howie told Business News.

The Port Kembla project generated more than 400 local jobs, spread across design (60 jobs), fabrication (200), construction (150) and commissioning (25).

The sub-contractors involved in the steel fabrication included Civmec and Doina.

Completion of the Port Kembla project coincided with Rio Tinto’s announcement of another substantial WA contract for thyssenkrupp.

Rio has placed a $70 million order for port equipment, including three replacement stackers and seven trippers, for its iron ore operations in the Pilbara.

Thyssenkrupp will manufacture, assemble and fabricate the stackers before transporting the 1,860t of equipment to the Pilbara.

Rio said three quarters of the heavy machinery would be wholly made within Australia.

Iron ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said the $70 million project was expected to create up to 150 local jobs, including 30 jobs based in the Pilbara to prepare the site and install the equipment.

Together with thyssenkrupp, Rio said it would identify additional work that could include WA, Pilbara and Aboriginal businesses.

Mr Salisbury said the project would support Rio’s commitment to build on the 77 per cent of supply spend attributed to WA suppliers.

Design and fabrication work is expected to begin in 2018, with installation and commissioning anticipated in late 2020.

In further news this month, Mr McGowan cut the first steel for the Gruyere gold project at Civmec’s Henderson workshop.

The steel fabrication is part of the $298 million engineering, procurement and construction contract awarded to the Amec Foster Wheeler Civmec joint venture.

The joint venture will employ up to 300 people during the project’s peak construction period, including 30 jobs in Perth during the fabrication.

The Gruyere project, located in the eastern Goldfields, is a 50:50 joint venture between Gold Road Resources and Gold Fields.

Another piece of good news this month was the awarding to Civmec of the steel fabrication contract on the Swan River pedestrian bridge that services the new Perth Stadium.

Civmec effectively replaced Toyota Tsusho, which was contracted by the York Rizzani joint venture to fabricate the steel deck and arch components of the bridge in Malaysia.

That subcontract was terminated in June after Toyota Tsusho failed to deliver bridge components within the repeatedly extended deadlines.

Transport Minister Rita Saffioti, who announced the Civmec contract, did not specify its value but said the cost of locally manufactured steel was estimated to be $25 million.

Ms Saffioti was cautiously positive about meeting the revised completion date of March 2018, which aligns with the first round of AFL games starting on Thursday March 22.

“While the steel fabrication is challenging and complex, and there is a risk that the target completion date may not be met, the advice we have received is that the March schedule can work,” Ms Saffioti said in a statement.

The new agreement brings Civmec into the Swan River Bridge Alliance, which also includes Main Roads Western Australia and York Rizzani.

Using Civmec’s expertise, the alliance will manage the steel fabrication, painting of the arches and decks, and their transportation to the construction sites near the new Perth Stadium.

Ms Saffioti said the new program of works relied on Civmec organising the services of other local companies and workshops to assist with the fabrication and shop detailing.

The work is estimated to generate 250 jobs.

As head contractor for the project, the York Rizzani joint venture can earn an extra $2.6 million if it meets the March 2018 target.

That would bring the cost of the project to $83 million.

In addition, there will be site assembly costs, which the government has not specified.

Civmec chief executive Pat Tallon said he was pleased to play such an important role on the iconic project.

“Having already completed the fabrication and construction of the Perth Stadium on time with the highest quality and other complex structures, such as the fabrication of the arches for Perth’s Elizabeth Quay pedestrian bridge, this new project further reaffirms Civmec’s global competitiveness for complex steel structures,” Mr Tallon said.

Including revenue from the alliance, the order book for Singapore Stock Exchange-listed Civmec stands at approximately $S610 million ($A567 million).