‘No amount of money’ would have avoided Stelco slowdown, job loss: CEO
In an exclusive interview with Global News, the owner of Stelco, said the layoff decision was purely market-driven and that financial incentives could not fix the issue.
Lourenco Goncalves, the chairman and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, stated that "no amount of money" would have prevented Stelco from undergoing a slowdown and laying off roughly 350 employees. This decision, which involved offering the displaced workers positions at a nearby steel mill, was driven by market conditions rather than financial incentives.
The company's ownership by U.S.-based steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs decided to pause production of galvanized steel as they sought to export products to the United States. The company's CEO insisted that there was "no market in Canada" for the amount of galvanized steel they produced. Despite the federal government's attempts to persuade Stelco to delay layoffs with various financial offers, Goncalves adamantly refused, only agreeing to help if the government provided a "blank cheque" without conditions.
Goncalves emphasized that while the company is temporarily pausing production, it does not plan to permanently close the Hamilton facility. Instead, it intends to concentrate on producing hot-rolled steel and waiting for market conditions to improve. The company plans to resume galvanized steel production once the trade war stabilizes, enabling it to once again export Canadian-made steel.
Written by urgent.news from Global News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
