Queensland steel suppliers call for infrastructure firms to buy local

Queensland steel suppliers want a better deal for local firms, saying they are being locked out of some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the state.

The industry's peak organisation, the Australian Steel Institute, said Australian firms cannot compete against the cheaper labor costs from overseas steel suppliers.

They now worry that future "clean energy" projects will be built off-shore and shipped to Australia.
Australian Steel Institute chief executive Don McDonald said Australian firms were winning less than 10 per cent of the steelworks in new developments.

"Australian fabrication plants and engineering services are largely locked out of many of the jobs and investment that is being made and there is little return for Australian manufacturing from these large scale resource projects," he said.

The ASI will soon launch a "lost tonnes" campaign to measure the declining share of the market won by local firms as imported steel erodes their base.

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