Steelmaker Evraz to lay off more than 100 in Canada

Steelmaker Evraz North America will lay off more than 100 employees in its Canada steel operations.

The subsidiary of Russian steelmaker Evraz, will cut staff at its Regina, Saskatchewan, plate and pipe mill in February, with approximately 40 laid off at Evraz's Camrose tubular mill, according to United Steelworkers (USW) Local 5890 president Mike Day.

An Evraz North America spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday it would be conducting layoffs and blamed "unfairly traded imports" for the move.

"High volumes of cheap imports are flooding the Canadian market, making it difficult to compete for business," the company said.

On 30 January, president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association Catherine Cobden called on the government to "enhance our trade remedy system and ensure timely enforcement and use of trade tools."

Cobden said 41pc of steel used in Canada is from foreign producers.

Canada imported 1.6mn metric tonnes of oil country tubular goods through November, up from 1.21mn t in full-year 2021 and 1.16mn t in the prior year, according to trade data.

The US accounted for 24pc of tubular imports in the first 11 months of 2022, followed closely by 23pc from China and 9.1pc from South Korea.

In 2021, the US supplied 34pc of Canadian tubular imports, while China was the source for 14pc.

By Rye Druzin