He said the company had “never walked away from Port Pirie” and “never lost interest in the town”.

But he was critical of community leaders who he believes have been responsible for a strong “anti-business” sentiment coming out of Port Pirie.

“What would they know?” he said.

“We are committed to Port Pirie no matter how much Geoff Brock and others are saying we are not.”

He was optimistic about the company’s future in the town and said his company was not looking to sell the land.

“We see it as a key to our future to export coal or iron ore,” he said. “We have paid good value for the asset and we will use it.”

But he added that companies were not lining up to invest in our city.

“Not one other company has ever approached WPG to use our facility in Port Pirie,” he said.

“That is the level of interest industry is showing in Port Pirie.

He said OneSteel had decided to buy WPG’s assets and that it was not WPG Resources that decided not to use Port Pirie.