Sherritt International to temporarily lay off nearly half of its Canadian staff

FORT SASKATCHEWAN · Sherritt International Corp. is temporarily laying off about 280 employees, representing 47 per cent of its Canadian workforce. The layoffs are linked to the halted operations at its refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. The company said the layoffs are expected to last about 90 days. Sherritt shut down refining at the Alberta mill earlier this year when it ran out of feedstock from its Moa mine in Cuba.

During the layoff period, some work at the site will continue, the company said. This includes the production and sale of ammonia fertilizer and sulphuric acid. Maintenance and ongoing environmental protection and safety work will also proceed. The refinery's main processing operations remain idle. The supply disruption stems from Cuba, where operations at the Moa joint venture were paused. Cuba faced severe fuel shortages after the U.S. cut off access to oil from Venezuela in January. This halted the mining and processing activities that provide the raw material for the Alberta facility.

Sherritt reported a development last month that could lead to a restart. The company said it received a licence from the U.S. government authorizing the purchase and delivery of fuel to its Moa mine and processing operations in Cuba. Sherritt said the licence "is the first of a series of emergency licences that will be necessary for it to be able to restart operations." Full resumption depends on securing further authorizations and re-establishing the supply chain. The temporary layoffs directly affect the company's operations in Alberta while it awaits the restart of its Cuban feedstock source. Sherritt has not detailed which specific employee groups or departments will be impacted. The company's statement frames the layoffs as a necessary step while it works to resolve the international supply issue.

With files from The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail and BNN Bloomberg