The Canada Brief

Economy · 14 d ago

Stelco Lake Erie Works, Nanticoke, Ontario

JFVoll · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Stelco posts its best quarter under Cleveland-Cliffs as up to 500 jobs go

Layoffs at Stelco's Ontario operations

500 jobs, at most

Stelco had its strongest results since Cleveland-Cliffs bought it two years ago, helped by a sharp improvement in Canada's hot-rolled steel market. It is still going ahead with up to 500 layoffs in Ontario.

"What Stelco and Stelco workers really need is a market to sell galvanized steel, and government money cannot buy a market for galvanized steel."

— Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs chief executive

What's next

Goncalves says laid-off workers could return at once if Ottawa blocked or sharply cut galvanized steel imports. Until then, Stelco will focus on hot-rolled steel and keep about 2,000 Canadian jobs.

A steel mill in Hamilton, Ontario

K2HWY · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Stelco makes hot-rolled steel at Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke and processes galvanized steel at Hamilton Works, for cars, farms and infrastructure.