Sherritt Lays Off 47% of Canadian Staff as Alberta Cobalt Refinery Stays Idle
SHERF has more than doubled off its 52-week low of $0.06.
Summary
Sherritt is temporarily laying off 280 employees — 47% of its Canadian workforce — for at least 90 days to conserve cash while it tries to restart the Fort Saskatchewan nickel and cobalt refinery. The Alberta plant, North America's only major cobalt refinery, has been idle since June, when the company ran out of feed after U.S. sanctions forced it to halt shipments from its Cuban joint venture mine. The company says it received the first of a series of emergency OFAC licenses on October 19, permitting fuel and essential shipments to Cuba as it works to restart mining and feed exports. The layoffs show the cash squeeze is biting before that supply pipeline is actually restored — the license is a first step, not a restart.
At the time of this announcement, SHERF was trading at $0.15 on OTC in the Manufacturing sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $103.8M. The 52-week trading range was $0.06 to $0.39. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Seeking Alpha.