The siren has sounded for Australia’s fabrication and welding community, which is facing simultaneous challenges on several fronts.
These range from skills shortages to the rising use of non-compliant, imported fabricated steel that is, in turn, significantly eating away into the business of local welders.
Weld Australia is now calling for urgent government intervention, issuing a stark warning that a failure to act now could have a knock-on effect on the government’s capability to deliver critical infrastructure projects.
Weld Australia chief executive officer Geoff Crittenden says that when it comes to imported steel, the three main issues are: enforcing compliance with international quality standards, implementing mandatory inspections of imported fabricated steel, and introducing enforceable local content requirements in government procurement.
“Right now, we have local manufacturers losing work to overseas fabricators simply because they can’t compete with low-cost imports that are not held to the same quality standards,” Crittenden says. “This isn’t just a commercial issue. It’s a matter of national safety and sovereign capability.”
He says that in the last 18 months alone, an estimated $282.9 million worth of fabricated steel, or 62,866 tonnes, has been imported into Sydney from overseas.
That quantity of steel equates to 12 months’ worth of work for 400 full-time welders, or approximately 16 mid-sized local Australian fabrication businesses.
Local New South Wales members estimate that they have seen a 40 percent decrease in business over the last 18 months citing imports as the key cause. It says the lost work was awarded to foreign contractors.
“When local manufacturers with a proven track record of excellence lose out to low-cost overseas suppliers, it erodes confidence, jobs and safety. Worse, there’s no requirement to inspect imported fabricated steel upon arrival,” Crittenden says.
Weld Australia is calling for the enforcement of mandatory local content requirements on all government-funded projects, with explicit reference to Australian-fabricated steel.
It is also calling for the government to mandate that at least 50-60 percent of all steel used in government-funded projects is fabricated locally by qualified, certified Australian welders, unless a genuine, documented exception applies.
It is also petitioning for compulsory inspection of all imported fabricated steel prior to erection, to verify full compliance with Australian Standards.
“This isn’t about shutting out the world,” Crittenden says. “It’s about holding every supplier – local or overseas – to the same safety and quality standards. Anything less is a risk to both industry and public safety.”
Echoing Weld Australia’s call for more robust checks on imported steel, the Australian Steel Institute (ASI) too recently firmly pushed back on what it terms a “flood of low-priced imported fabricated steel” entering the country over the past three years. The ASI reports a rapid increase in fabricated steelwork imports over the past three years, with the 2024 volume representing a nearly 50 percent increase on the 2016 to 2021 period.
“To remain competitive, local manufacturers are being forced to lower their prices to remain afloat, despite the fact they are supplying higher quality products that adhere to safety standards. The reduced pricing power limits their ability to invest in new technology, staff training and other growth initiatives,” Crittenden adds.
Skills shortage
At the end of last year, Weld Australia confirmed that the country was already grappling with a major welding workforce crisis. It projected a shortfall of 70,000 skilled welders by 2030.
To counter this, it launched a micro-credential program designed to rapidly train job-ready, certified welders in just 12 weeks. The training is aligned with the ISO 9606 standard.
This program complements traditional apprenticeships, addressing both immediate and long-term workforce demands.
“Rather than competing with traditional apprenticeship programs, our micro-credential approach fills the gaps and enhances the offering. It allows students to start contributing to the workforce quickly, while still keeping the door open for further, long-term training,” Crittenden says.
“The ISO 9606 certification gives employers a job-ready welder, someone who can step onto a project and deliver the required welds from day one.”
