Treasurer calls for cool heads over Arrium

SA treasurer Tom Koutsantonis says it's not yet the end of the road for steelmaker Arrium and pitched the company's woes as a national issue.

Placing Steelmaker Arrium into administration is not the end for the company but cool heads must prevail, South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis says.

Mr Koutsantonis says workers will still get paid and the business will continue to operate while the administrators take charge of the operations.

"Panic is not an option here," the state treasurer told reporters on Thursday.