EVRAZ dismisses 50 employees at Regina steel plant and continues expansion

The layoffs were announced at the Evraz steel plant in Regina. The company says it will lay off 40 to 50 employees in its steel operations starting May 17. In a statement, the company said the layoffs are necessary "to align the level of personnel with operations, which are currently lower due to reduced demand for steel associated with a significant decline in oil drilling."

EVRAZ mainly makes pipes for the oil and gas industry. The company is one of Regina's largest private sector employers. The company has assured that it will continue to monitor the oil market and hopes to provide employees with work as soon as possible, although it did not specify a specific date. The laid-off employees can also consider vacancies across all of Evraz Regina's operations, the company says.

News of the layoffs came shortly after the company announced a $ 200 million expansion and job creation. The investment includes the installation of new equipment for a two-stage increase in pipe diameter. It will also increase the pipe wall thickness and increase the annual production capacity by more than 100,000 tons. EVRAZ plans to modernize its steelmaking production, which will include the degassing process and the increase in the size of steel plates.

“This investment will strengthen our position as an integrated manufacturer of high quality, low cost large diameter pipes in North America,” said Konrad Winkler, President and CEO of EVRAZ North America. Despite the fact that revenues from sales of oil pipes declined last year, the expansion reflects the program for the development of the region's economy. This was facilitated by a new tax incentive imposed by the government for steel producers investing at least $ 100 million in capital investments over several months. “Without these incentives, we wouldn't have done it,” added Winkler.

Evraz also said it will work with Enbridge on a joint research and development program to improve the pipeline's productivity. “EVRAZ has a large Pipe Research Center in North America that has been instrumental in our achievements since 1982,” said Winkler. "We will now combine our expertise with Enbridge to further enhance our large diameter pipes."
Evraz has produced more than 51,000 km of recycled metal pipes over 59 years of operations at Regina.