Vale eliminates its Ontario boss – by Staff (Sudbury Star – September 30, 2017)

http://www.thesudburystar.com/

Stuart Harshaw is out as head of Vale’s Ontario operations and the position has been eliminated. The company has blamed harsh market conditions for its decision.

“We have had a change in leadership in our Ontario operations,” Vale said in a media statement. “In the current challenging market we are evaluating all aspects of our business and that review includes examining and evolving how our business is structured. At this time, the role of director, Ontario operations has been eliminated.”

Harshaw was head of Ontario operations from January 2016. Before that, he served as VP of marketing and sales for base metals at Vale’s Singapore operations. The company said it is trying to streamline processes.

“Part of our strategy is to simplify our business and foster closer links between leaders and their teams,” they said in a statement. “Our operational leads now report directly to our chief operating officer, which will foster closer links between our Ontario operations and our Corporate office.”

Rumours of company-wide layoffs began to swirl about last month. The Star was told employees watched a video that warned of cuts, which they said could be significant.

Nickel prices have remained low this year, at times dropping below US$4 per pound, although they have rebounded a bit and are moving closer to the $5 mark. Net income tumbled 99 per cent to $16 million from $1.1 billion a year earlier, far below an average estimate of $421 million.

For the rest of this article: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2017/09/29/staffing-shuffles-at-vale