US sanctions shut Canada’s only cobalt refinery

Staff Writer | June 23, 2026 |

Old Havana. (Stock image by kmiragaya.)

Sherritt International (TSX: S) has begun shutting down its Fort Saskatchewan refinery after expanded US sanctions on Cuba halted the feedstock supply needed to keep the Alberta, Canada facility running.

The Toronto-based nickel and cobalt producer said the transition follows previous guidance that refinery operations would continue only until mid-June based on available inventory. The company has implemented shutdown procedures and will retain the personnel and resources required to keep the facility in a safe and secure state while operations remain suspended.

Sherritt said it is preserving cash, managing costs and preparing the refinery for a potential restart while carrying out maintenance work during the shutdown.

The shutdown marks the latest fallout from Washington’s tougher stance on Cuba and highlights the vulnerability of supply chains that depend on the island’s mining sector. 

Sherritt mined nickel and cobalt at its Moa joint venture in eastern Cuba and processed the material at its refinery near Edmonton.

Impact

The refinery will remain idle until mining and processing activities at Moa resume and the feed pipeline is rebuilt. Sherritt said it cannot provide guidance on when that may occur and continues to suspend its direct participation in the Cuban joint venture.

The company continues to produce fertilizers and sulphuric acid for resale, providing a source of revenue while its core nickel and cobalt operations remain constrained.

Sherritt has faced mounting operational and financial challenges since the US expanded sanctions against Cuba in May. The measures have disrupted the company’s primary source of refinery feed and forced it to focus on preserving cash while preparing for an eventual restart.

 

Cobalt users warn EU health rules threaten minerals supply push

Bloomberg News | June 22, 2026

H.C. Starck tungsten powders. Credit: H.C. Starck Tungsten GmbH

Some of the European Union’s top cobalt users warn that planned rules to protect workers’ health will instead threaten the bloc’s push to bolster its mineral supply chains and industries like energy and defense.

The European Commission will on Tuesday decide whether to approve legislation to reduce workers’ exposure to cobalt dust and particles to safeguard against cancers and other respiratory illnesses. But companies involved in the supply chain say the proposed limits are too strict, costly and challenging to meet, and risk closing businesses and diverting investments away from the EU.

Cobalt is a key metal in electric-vehicle batteries, and is also used in space and defense applications, construction tools, magnets and even animal feed as a vitamin source. The planned health rules come as the EU in 2024 adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act to secure supplies of such metals and reduce dependence on China, which dominates processing.

“The risk is creating a self-defeating mechanism, reducing Europe’s own recycling, refining and processing capacity, while continuing to rely on imported cobalt produced under higher exposure limits elsewhere in the world,” said Mike Blakeney, head of government and public affairs at the Cobalt Institute, an industry group.

Germany’s H.C. Starck Tungsten GmbH, which extracts tungsten from recycled products like carbide tools that often contain cobalt, is among firms concerned that the new rules could undermine the EU’s plan to support its industries. It called the planned legislation “overkill.”

“On the one hand they are trying to support the industry, on the other hand they make sure that you cannot operate any more competitively,” chief executive officer Hady Seyeda said. “The level of safety we have is best in class globally, and to increase that further doesn’t help anybody, because the money and the production will go to areas where it’s less safe.”

The proposed rules will limit workers’ inhalable exposure of cobalt from 20 micrograms per cubic meter to 10 micrograms after a six-year transition period. Similar regulations in China allow 50 micrograms, while US federal law permits 100 micrograms.

The European Chemicals Agency, which provided the scientific basis for the new rules, originally suggested even stronger restrictions. The ECHA told Bloomberg that it makes recommendations based on “hazards and risks, not on possible societal impacts and costs.”

The commission said in an impact assessment last year that 113,000 people are exposed to cobalt dust in the workplace at more than 15,300 companies. About 12 people a year will get lung cancer linked to the exposure and another 100 will get restrictive lung disease, it said. Around 19,000 workers will become ill over the next 40 years if the rules don’t change, according to the assessment.

The proposal “followed a balanced approach to prevent industry closures or major economic setbacks while ensuring adequate protection of workers’ health and safety,” the commission said in an emailed statement on Monday.

The proposed six-year transition is meant to “give the industry more time to adapt to the new occupational exposure limits,” it said, adding that it can revise its directives based on operational realities.

Supporters of the planned law include the European Respiratory Society and the European Cancer Organisation, according to feedback published on the commission’s website in October.

Other users

Finland is the largest cobalt refiner outside of China, where a unit of Jervois Global and Belgium’s Umicore SA have operations.

“There are no established industrial technologies today that operate at that level” of cobalt dust proposed by the rules, said Wouter Ghyoot, vice president of government affairs at Umicore. “Our preference is clearly to continue investing and operating in Europe, the question is ensuring the regulatory framework remains workable in practice.”

Jervois employees use protective equipment when cobalt dust is present and are regularly monitored, said Sami Kallioinen, Jervois Finland’s president and managing director. When test results exceed the set limits, it’s most usually due to human behavior, such as when workers don’t change clothes or smoke with gloves that contain traces of cobalt dust, he said.

Opponents of the planned rules also included Catalysts Europe, the Federation of European Producers of Abrasives, and major German defense company Rheinmetall AG.

“It is clear that the defence supply chain in general will be negatively impacted from stricter rules,” Rheinmetall said in the published feedback.

(By Michael J. Kavanagh and Annie Lee)

Alcoa flags lower Australian alumina shipments after cyclone

Reuters | June 11, 2026 |

Credit: Alcoa

Alcoa Corp expects shipments from its Pinjarra alumina refinery in Australia to fall by around 120,000 metric tons in the second quarter compared to the first quarter due to the impact of Cyclone Narelle, its chief financial officer said.

The cyclone, which hit Australia in March, disrupted LNG supply to the 4.7 million ton per year capacity Pinjarra plant and increased second-quarter production costs by $30 million, Molly Beerman told the Wells Fargo Industrials & Materials Conference in Chicago on Wednesday.

Alcoa is also expecting additional fuel costs of $15 million in the quarter at its Sao Luis alumina refinery in Brazil due to the conflict in the Middle East, Beerman said.

Sao Luis remains profitable, but Alcoa’s alumina business is “very pressured right now” and the refineries in Western Australia are “really challenged” due to low alumina prices and poor-quality bauxite. “So the segment as a whole will be under water,” she said.

Alcoa is helping its aluminum smelter customers in the Middle East redirect some of their contracted alumina cargoes, primarily to China, because of their war-driven production constraints, Beerman said.

Alcoa’s shares plunged 9.5% on Wednesday to $65.55.

(By Tom Daly; Editing by Jan Harvey)

 

Madagascan miner Ambatovy resumes nickel production after cyclone

Reuters | June 11, 2026 | 

Ambatovy nickel-cobalt mine in Madagascar. (Image courtesy of Sherritt International Corp.)

Madagascan miner Ambatovy plans to produce 2,500 metric tons of nickel in June as it is restarting production after a cyclone hit it in February, the company told Reuters on Thursday.

Cobalt production is expected at around 250 tons this month, Ambatovy added.

Ambatovy restarted one acid plant on May 23 and plans to start the second one by the end of June, Ambatovy’s chief executive Trevor Naidoo said in a post on social media.

The miner’s current shareholder, Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation (KOMIR), and Japanese trading house Sumitomo, which sold its 54% stake to a group of investors in May, provided the funding to Ambatovy for the rebuild after the cyclone, he added.

Ambatovy produces nickel and cobalt briquettes. Its production was at around 29,000 tons of nickel and 2,700 tons of cobalt in 2025.

(By Polina Devitt and Pratima Desai; Editing by Louise Heavens)

Column: Nickel’s recovery hopes tempered by growing stock overhang

Reuters | June 10, 2026 | 

A haul dump trucks used to transport mining material in the nickel mining of PT Vale Indonesia in Sorowako. Stock image.

(The opinions expressed here are those ​of Andy Home, a columnist for Reuters.)

Nickel’s early-year rally is a collective bet that Indonesia’s multi-year production surge is finally abating, allowing the market to rebalance after four consecutive years of oversupply.

But a growing mountain of surplus metal accumulating in London Metal Exchange (LME) and Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) warehouses is a reminder that ​this could be a slow-fuse process.

Combined exchange inventory stands at 468,600 metric tons, the largest stock overhang since 2015 and equivalent to around six weeks of global ‌usage.

The rate of growth has slowed as LME-registered stocks plateau out. But the rise in Shanghai inventory has been simultaneously accelerating, suggesting the refined nickel surplus is now migrating eastwards.

LME and ShFE nickel stocks

Production hits in the West

LME nickel stocks, including off-warrant inventory, rose for nine straight months between June last year and March, when they topped out just below the 400,000-metric-ton level.

They have since edged 20,000 tons lower. Although metal is still arriving at LME warehouses in sizeable ​clips, warrant cancellations and load-out rates have also picked up in recent weeks, signalling a stronger draw on metal from the physical market.

The Western supply chain, or what’s left ​of it after Indonesia’s Chinese-backed supply tsunami, is absorbing two unexpected hits to production.

The Ambatovy mine in Madagascar has been suspended since February due to ⁠damage from a cyclone.

The mine, which is being taken over by a consortium led by Jason Kluk, former head of nickel trading at Glencore, produced 28,000 tons of finished nickel products in ​2024.

Just as Ambatovy is due to return at the end of this month, Sherritt International’s Fort Saskatchewan refinery may run out of feed.

The Canadian producer has suspended direct participation in its Cuban mining ​joint venture after the latest salvo of US sanctions on the country.

The mines are integrated with Sherritt’s nickel plant in Alberta and the company warned last month it expected its raw materials inventory to last only to the middle of June.

Sherritt expected to produce 26,000-28,000 tons of finished nickel this year but the outlook is now highly uncertain. The sanctions have upended Sherritt’s nickel business and the company has just signed a term sheet to sell a ​majority stake to Gillon Capital.

China’s trade in refined nickel

Surplus moves to China

While the nickel stocks build in the West shows signs of exhaustion, Chinese inventory is rapidly climbing.

Shanghai exchange stocks have almost doubled since the start of ​the year and now total 87,671 tons, which is the highest level since 2017. The rise has been relentless with no discernible seasonal impact from the new year holiday period.

There may be a lot more sitting ‌in government ⁠warehouses.

China’s imports of refined metal surprised to the upside last year and they have remained robust so far this year.

The country imported 231,000 tons of nickel in 2025, the highest tally in four years, according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, which collates official customs data.

Yet Chinese nickel producers also exported a record 171,000 tons of metal, mainly to LME warehouses in Asia.

The two-way flow makes little market sense unless imports included purchases by government stockpile managers.

Macquarie analysts think governments absorbed around 150,000 tons of nickel last year as they look to build reserves of what most deem ​to be a critical mineral. The bank expects ​more strategic buying this year.

China isn’t explicitly ⁠referenced but the country has long been a strategic stockpiler of nickel and soaking up more metal at a time of low prices is a tried-and-tested policy.

LME and ShFE nickel relative year-to-date performance

Slow rebalancing

China’s import surge has rolled into this year. Inbound volumes of refined nickel jumped by 56% year-on-year to 94,000 tons in the ​January to April period, while exports fell to just 9,400 tons.

Combined with China’s own expanded smelter capacity, running off Indonesian raw materials, it’s ​little surprise that domestic inventory ⁠is rising and Shanghai prices are underperforming those in London.

The price gap should create a renewed incentive for exports but so far that’s not happening.

It’s not as if the West needs more metal anyway despite the disruption in Madagascar and Canada.

While Indonesian production may well fall this year due to a combination of government mining restrictions and lack of sulfur for processing, it’s clearly going to take time before that ⁠becomes manifest in ​the refined metal segment of the market.

 

How Trump’s Cuba grudge threw a 99-year-old Canadian mining company into turmoil

Bloomberg News | May 22, 2026 |

Old Havana. (Stock image by kmiragaya.)

The Trump administration’s hard line against Cuba pushed Sherritt International Corp. to the brink. Now, an ex-adviser to the US president may be the Canadian mining company’s salvation.

The nearly 99-year-old company, whose former chief executive was once known as Fidel Castro’s favorite capitalist, has staked its business on a bet few Western companies would touch. After entering Cuba in the 1990s, Sherritt developed a nickel-and-cobalt mine through a joint venture with the state before expanding into energy. The result was a sprawling business that’s survived commodity busts, US political pressure and economic instability on the island.

That wager abruptly unraveled this month, plunging Sherritt into turmoil. After President Donald Trump expanded sanctions on the communist country, Sherritt initially announced plans to dissolve its mining venture in Cuba. On Wednesday the US charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with murder, sharply escalating a standoff with Havana as the Trump administration attempts to reshape the island’s political order.

But just days after Sherritt announced its retreat from Cuba, a potential rescuer emerged in the form of a Dallas family office linked to Ray Washburne, a real estate executive appointed by Trump in 2017 to lead the Overseas Private Investment Corp. Washburne’s Gillon Capital LLC signed a non-binding preliminary agreement on Wednesday that would hand the family office a controlling stake in Sherritt.

“It came out of nowhere,” Peter Hancock, Sherritt’s interim chief executive officer, said in an interview. “I would like to tell you that I’m a business genius and that I knew an American entity would see that it could create value in the situation that Sherritt was in. But no, I didn’t foresee that.”

As Trump’s foreign policy during his second term turns markedly more aggressive, Sherritt is still at risk of losing its Havana gamble. The saga underscores the dangers facing companies and investors from shifting geopolitics amid a rapidly changing world order. While major multinational firms have not been immune to conflict-driven losses, the threat is particularly acute for companies with assets concentrated in a single country outside of the US.

It’s not clear whether Sherritt’s preliminary pact with Gillon signals a potential shift in Trump’s Cuba strategy. On Wednesday, he played down the need to further ratchet up pressure on the Cuban government after the charges against Raúl Castro. Representatives for Gillon and the State Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

But for Hancock, the sudden backing from Gillon helped “bridge the huge gap” between Sherritt and the administration.

“This deal happened because an actor in the United States was able to make a case to the US State Department,” he said. “We were collateral damage in a larger policy objective for the United States.”

Sherritt was founded in 1927 and named after Carl Sherritt, a trapper who staked copper prospects in Manitoba. The company’s first foray into Cuba was steered by Ian Delaney, who became CEO after a proxy fight in 1990 and secured a deal with the Castro government one year later. The state agreed to sell Sherritt unprocessed nickel from Moa, a mine in eastern Cuba that was nationalized after the country’s 1959 revolution.

It was a milestone deal for the Canadian firm, which needed raw material to feed its key asset: a refinery in Alberta. The company entered into a joint venture agreement in 1994 with the state to operate Moa, which produces cobalt and nickel, both key metals for the energy transition and providing power to data centers.

For years, Sherritt was enormously successful in Cuba. Its market capitalization jumped to almost C$5 billion ($3.6 billion) in 2008, while the stock traded as high as C$18. Sherritt, by that time, had poured significant investment into the country, including stakes in electricity, oil and natural gas ventures alongside state companies.

Sherritt executives became the first people barred from entering the US under the Helms-Burton Act, a law passed in 1996 to target firms doing business in Cuba. But Canada and several European nations opposed the law and maintained diplomatic ties with Havana, allowing Sherritt to keep selling most of its nickel and cobalt into those markets as well as Asia.

Yet at the height of Sherritt’s rise following its success in Cuba, the company made costly bet on a nickel project in Madagascar. The decision would ultimately shred its balance sheet, driving debt to almost C$2.5 billion at its peak in 2013. Then came a prolonged slump in nickel prices, leaving the company periodically teetering on the brink of insolvency.

Saddled with a heavy debt load and years of weak cash flow, the company became even more reliant on Cuba, exiting other assets including its Canadian coal business to fund loan repayments and eventually writing off its Madagascar venture. Today, Cuba accounts more than 70% of the company’s asset base on a book value basis.

“They had an ample opportunity to eliminate their indebtedness entirely,” Jeffrey Gavarkovs, a managing partner at Northstream Capital Inc., said in an interview. But “the combination of Cuba and a debt load that was a little bit too heavy was their poison pill.”

While Sherritt continued receiving distributions from its power and nickel operations, the company spent more than C$100 million on an offshore well, a higher-risk category of oil exploration, Gavarkovs said. The effort yielded a well that was ultimately written off as uneconomic.

But according to Gavarkovs, who owns Sherritt bonds, the company’s biggest flaw was its bloated corporate overhead for what had effectively become a single-asset mining company. Directors on the board, rather than ensuring that unsecured note-holders received cash interest payments as required by the debt covenants, prioritized vesting cash-settled stock options, he said.

The company also spent millions trying to fend off several activist campaigns against it, he added. Last year investment firm Pala Assets Holdings won its battle against Sherritt, resulting in the resignation of CEO Leon Binedell and a shakeup of the board.

When US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January, investors began speculating that Cuba could be the Trump administration’s next target. In Venezuela’s case, US oil majors and Western mining companies swarmed into the country after Maduro’s arrest, with Chevron Corp. emerging as one of the clearest winners.

But unlike Chevron, which has a diversified asset base, Sherritt was facing a worsening a fuel shortage as the US blocked Venezuelan exports to Cuba. The company announced plans to pause mining at Moa in February after receiving notice that planned fuel deliveries could not be fulfilled.

As Cuba’s economy continued to crumble, with mass blackouts sweeping the island as Trump tightened his squeeze on the nation of 10 million people, Sherritt faced a choice: keep operations going at a loss and at reduced capacity, or mothball the company’s most valuable asset. In late March, the company announced it was seeking an emergency cash injection of as much as C$50 million to support Moa.

After Trump’s expansion of Cuba sanctions on May 1, Sherritt abruptly decided to relinquish its joint venture stakes on the island. But soon after, the company reversed course.

Hancock was at home in Halifax on Monday, a public holiday in Canada, watching the Giro d’Italia cycling race on TV when the phone rang. On the other end was Washburne, calling with his offer for Sherritt.

Two days later, the Canadian company announced that it had signed a non-binding term sheet with Gillon. Sherritt said the US State Department had no objections to the discussions.

It’s far from certain that Ottawa will support a US investor taking majority ownership of Sherritt, however. Canada instituted a new policy in 2024 to make it more difficult for foreign companies to take control of Canadian critical minerals assets.

To Ben Rowswell, a former Canadian ambassador to Venezuela, the move by a Trump-friendly investor to take control of Sherritt in Cuba exemplifies what’s become known as the Donroe Doctrine, the US president’s take on Washington’s 19th-century push for hemispheric domination.

The latest move provides “further insight into the changing character of the US relationship with the region as it’s turning into an extractive predator” that uses its power over all countries, said Rowswell, now a consultant with strategic advisory firm Catalyze4.

The government of Prime Minister Mark Carney might be reluctant to attempt to block the takeover of Sherritt by a US investor to avoid complicating efforts to renew a free trade agreement with the US, Rowswell said, adding that he believes Carney’s administration should defend the company against US sanctions.

A spokesperson for Canada’s industry department said the government welcomes foreign investment that benefits Canada’s economy, but declined to comment on specific transactions.

Sherritt isn’t the only foreign company with mining operations in Cuba: Singapore-based commodities trading giant Trafigura has a lead-and-zinc mine there in a joint venture with the state. The company has said that it complies with all applicable sanctions and maintains a regular dialogue with relevant authorities.

Despite the potential deal with Gillon, Sherritt’s situation remains tenuous. Three board members have resigned from Sherritt, leaving just Hancock and one other director. Its chief financial officer and its auditor also departed earlier this month. The company now trades as a penny stock, with a market capitalization near C$80 million. Without essential nickel and cobalt supplies from Cuba, the available inventory at the company’s Alberta refinery will run out in mid-June, it said earlier this month.

“A lot of things will need to happen to get to the state where the full value is realized,” said Hancock, adding that sourcing key inputs such as fuel and sulfur would also be critical to unlocking Sherritt’s full potential. But, he added, “the posture of the US government with respect to this deal opens up a much wider world of financing.”

The Fort Saskatchewan refinery is one of just a few nickel processing facilities in North America. As governments and manufacturers race to build critical minerals supply chains outside of China, the facility carries growing strategic importance, according to Northstream’s Gavarkovs.

For Hancock, a former engineer with commodities trader Glencore Plc, there have been “a lot of very unexpected twists and turns” since he stepped in as interim CEO of Sherritt in December. If the Gillon proposal goes ahead, any easing of tensions between the Trump administration and Cuba would likely improve the payoff for the Washburne family office, he added.

Gillon is “very, very familiar with the business and the value that they see down the track,” he said. “This deal signals that they believe Sherritt has got a real bright future when things normalize in Cuba.”

(By Sybilla Gross, Paula Sambo and Stephen Wicary)

Sherritt in talks to hand control of Cuba mining business to ex-Trump adviser

Bloomberg News | May 20, 2026 |

US new sanctions revive a decades-old clash with Sherritt, rooted in the 1990s. (Image courtesy of Sherritt International.)

Sherritt International Corp. is in talks to hand a controlling stake to a family office linked to a former adviser of President Donald Trump, as the mining company seeks to navigate US sanctions tied to its Cuba operations.

The Toronto-based company said it signed a non-binding term sheet for a private placement involving a warrant, which would allow Gillon Capital LLC to acquire enough common shares to own 55% of the company on a fully exercised basis, according to a statement Wednesday.

Sherritt expects that the exercise price will be at a discount to the company’s closing price May 15. The company, which operates nickel and cobalt mining and refining businesses tied closely to Cuban state partners, on Tuesday reversed course on plans to unwind its operations in the Caribbean country.

Shares of Sherritt, which trades as a penny stock, rose 9% in early trading in New York.

Gillon Capital is the family office of Ray Washburne, a real estate executive whom Trump appointed in 2017 to head the Overseas Private Investment Corporation before later naming him to the Presidential Intelligence Advisory Board.

Sherritt said it has “engaged constructively” with the US Department of State, which confirmed no objections to Gillon Capital’s engagement with the company, according to Wednesday’s statement. The Department of State and Department of Treasury don’t view the negotiations as contrary to US law, the statement said.

Last week, Sherritt said it was considering steps to relinquish its 50% stake in a Cuban nickel-and-cobalt mine, as well as surrender its interest in an energy joint venture with the state. On Tuesday, it backtracked on that decision and flagged it was evaluating a “potential value preserving opportunity.”

Sherritt operates nickel and cobalt mining and refining businesses tied closely to Cuban state partners and has long depended on the country for a significant portion of its production.

The company has been in turmoil since Trump signed an executive order earlier this month targeting non-US individuals and entities doing business in Cuba, which has faced sweeping US sanctions since the 1960s. The upheaval triggered a wave of departures, including three board members and the chief financial officer, and triggered a plunge in its share price.

(By Sybilla Gross)

Sherritt drops plan to dissolve Cuban assets

Staff Writer | May 19, 2026 |

Credit: Sherritt International

Sherritt International (TSX: S) has dropped plans to dissolve its mining assets in Cuba, though operations will remain suspended amid ongoing US sanctions.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Canadian miner said it will now keep its Cuban interests, namely the Moa nickel mining venture, and will not proceed with its application to the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta to disclaim the asset.

The decision was made following further “consultation with advisors, stakeholders and relevant governmental authorities,” and “in light of additional information” currently available to the company, it said.

The announcement comes just days after Sherritt said it would be dissolving the 50/50 Moa joint venture with the state-owned General Nickel Company, citing a “material change” from the JV shareholders’ agreement. It followed a recent executive order by US President Donald Trump that expanded sanctions on Cuba to include non-American entities, including Sherritt.

The extended US sanctions triggered a wave of departures within the company, including three board members, the chief financial officer, and led to a more than 50% drop in its share price.

Before that, the Toronto-based miner had already been struggling due to its heavy exposure to the Cuban market. Sherritt has been mining cobalt and nickel in the island nation since 1990. It also produces electricity, oil and gas through a stake in Energas SA, another joint venture with Cuba’s state electric and petroleum companies.

Sherritt International shares rebounded slightly off an all-time low of C$0.11 on the news. Its market capitalization is approximately C$81 million ($59 million), following a decline that extends to nearly two decades.

While the company is not longer seeking a dissolution of the Cuban assets, its participation in the Moa venture will remain suspended, Sherritt said on Tuesday, adding that it will “continue to work with stakeholders and advisors on steps to address the executive order as soon as practicable.”

The company also said it has been presented, on a preliminary basis, with “a potential value preserving opportunity”, which it will evaluate.

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US Supreme Court Rules Cruise Lines Can Be Sued Under Cuban Libertad Act

There are other cases under the Libertade Act also pending in the U.S. courts based on Trump’s 2019 decision not to extend the suspension of the act. Presidents before Trump had suspended the enforcement of the act.

Cruises docked at the piers in Havana between 2016 and 2019 working under U.S. licenses (GPH photo)

Published May 21, 2026 6:09 PM by The Maritime Executive

The United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling saying four cruise lines could be sued for their use of the pier in Havana, Cuba, under the Libertad Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1996. The case has been seen as a potential watershed in the long-running fight for compensation for assets seized during the 1959 Cuban revolution and other events around the globe.

At issue was the cruise lines' use of the docks in Havana between 2016, when the United States lifted many of its restrictions on Cuba under President Barack Obama, and June 2019, when Donald Trump reinstated the restrictions and let a presidential waiver over enforcement of the Libertad Act lapse. The Havana Dock Company, which built and operated the docks under a 99-year concession before the Cuban revolution, sued Carnival Corporation, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, MSC Cruises, and Royal Caribbean Group, contending they profited from the use of confiscated property.

The case alleges the cruise lines carried nearly one million passengers to Cuba between 2016 and 2019 using the piers that were tainted property, seized by the Cuban government in 1960 from Havana Docks. Under the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (known as the Libertad Act or the Helms-Burton Act for its sponsors), companies were given the right to sue for compensation from their seized properties.

A federal district court in Miami found for Havana Docks and awarded damages of $440 million. However, a U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the decision. The cruise line case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in February over the interpretation of the act. Among the defenses presented by the cruise lines is the argument that the concession for the piers was to have expired in 2004. Further, it is argued that the cruise lines were operating under permits issued by the U.S. government.

The Supreme Court, in an 8 to 1 decision, ruled that the property was, in fact, “tainted” by the 1960 seizure and that Havana Docks only had to show that the cruise lines had used the confiscated property. The majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas disagrees with the appellate court’s ruling, finding that the act generally makes those who use property tainted by a past confiscation liable to any U.S. national who owns a claim on that property. Havana Docks' claim for the lost docks was certified at $9 million in 1960.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, raises concerns that the majority opinion, however, is too broad. She believes it was unlikely that Congress intended in the act that “someone who suffered a finite loss to reap infinite recoveries.” She believes the claim should be finite and not go on so long as anyone continues to make any commercial use of the docks. Justice Sotomayor, in her opinion, raises another point, highlighting that the cruises were operated at a time when U.S. policy was that they were lawful and beneficial to both Cuba and the United States.

The solo dissent came from Justice Elena Kagan, who focused on the assertion that the Cuban government always owned the docks. She points to the 2004 expiration of Havana Docks’ contract. She warns the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the act “treats all property interests as if they were perpetual ones." She sides with the Appellate Court, saying that Havana Docks’ claim should fail because the cruise lines did not use the docks during the time-limited concession.

The ruling sends the suit against the cruise lines back to the lower courts for further arguments. 

There are other cases under the Libertade Act also pending in the U.S. courts based on Trump’s 2019 decision not to extend the suspension of the act. Presidents before Trump had suspended the enforcement of the act.

The Supreme Court in February also heard a case under the act brought by Exxon Mobil seeking compensation from the Cuban state-owned oil company CIMEX. The U.S. energy company lost its oil and gas assets in Cuba, which were seized by the Castro regime after the revolution and handed over to the state oil company. 

In 2022, it was noted that more than 40 Libertad Act suits had been filed, including cases against commercial shipping companies Maersk, MSC, Crowley Maritime, and Seaboard Marine. Some of the cases brought under the act, such as Crowley Maritime and American Airlines, have reportedly reached settlements, while others will be impacted by the decisions in the cruise line case and the yet-to-be-announced decision by the Supreme Court in the ExxonMobil case.

Canadas Sherritt to dissolve Cuba mining venture following US sanctions

Bloomberg News | May 15, 2026 | 

Nickel briquettes. Image courtesy of Sherritt International Corp.

Sherritt International Corp., a Canadian company that has invested in Cuba for decades, said it will seek to dissolve its nickel mining joint venture on the island due to US sanctions.

The metals producer seeks to force the breakup of its joint venture with Cuba’s General Nickel Company SA, its partner in the Moa nickel mine and a Canadian metals refinery, Sherritt said in a Friday statement. The process could take months or even years under existing agreements, so the Toronto-based firm said it’s also seeking a court order to accelerate the breakup.

Sherritt is offering to relinquish its 50% stake in the Cuba mine in exchange for full ownership of the refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, while also seeking a C$277 million ($202 million) equalization payment from its Cuban partner because mining assets are worth more. The company also said it will surrender its interest in Energas, an energy business in Cuba.

The company’s shares rose 4.6% to 11.5 Canadian cents as of 1:36 p.m. in Toronto.

Sherritt has been in turmoil since US President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month targeting non-US individuals and entities doing business in Cuba, which has faced sweeping US sanctions since the 1960s. The upheaval triggered a wave of departures, including three board members, the chief financial officer, and triggered a more than 50% drop in its share price.

Sherritt, which has been mining cobalt and nickel in Cuba since the 1990s, said earlier this week it would be unable to release its first-quarter results as scheduled on May 15.

(By Sybilla Gross)

 

Bolivarian Venezuela’s Unbreakable Solidarity with Cuba

Francisco Dominguez | 18 May 2026

As with other US imperialist endeavors, the US would relish Cuba’s economic collapse triggering a massive humanitarian crisis, no matter how high the number of casualties.

Ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela to pay tribute to the fighters who fell in combat against the United States on January 3. Photo: Minister of Communication Venezuela

Barely a week after the US military attack against Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores on January 3, 2026, Trump with his usual bombast told Cuba to “make a deal or face the consequences.” Trump set his sights on overthrowing the Cuban government.

Led by Marco Rubio, Florida’s Cuban gusanera and US government officials always saw the toppling of President Maduro as a key piece in the domino effect required to destroy the Cuban Revolution. In fact, “Rubio has long sought to push out Maduro. … [His] calculus is that toppling Maduro will weaken the regime in his ancestral homeland, Cuba.”

Expert commentators William M. Leogrande and Peter Kornbluh, writing for Foreign Policy – a US establishment journal covering strategic foreign policy issues – on November 2025, months before both the US attack on Venezuela and the US naval blockade on Cuba, argued that “the real aim – of deploying the war fleet in the Caribbean Sea – is to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government and then, by cutting off the flow of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, fulfill the Republican right’s decades-long dream of collapsing the Cuban government.”

Leogrande and Kornbluh added, “It’s a strategy that John Bolton, national security advisor in the first Trump administration, tried without success in 2019, but Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio now intends to try again.” Prophetically they argued “if Washington manages to unseat Maduro, then his successor would very likely cut off oil shipments to Havana [cut off by the US naval blockade, actually], striking another blow to an already reeling Cuban economy. US success in Venezuela could also threaten Cuba’s national security if the Trump administration, intoxicated with the win, decided to expand its aggressive military interventionism.”

Rubio has played a central role in shaping Trump’s policies towards Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Rubio’s strategy fits nicely with Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine“ since it specifically (though not exclusively) targets these three radical governments with sanctions, threats and efforts to overthrow them for having strong commercial and political links with non-hemispheric actors (China, Russia and Iran), links that the “Donroe Doctrine” seeks to break by military means.

Trump’s failure to separate Venezuela from Cuba

No sooner had Delcy Rodriguez been appointed Interim President of Venezuela than a corporate media smear campaign was launched against her depicting her as a “Trump asset”, mendaciously alleging her appointment had been the result of “prolonged negotiations” or that she had participated in meetings with others to conspire to betray President Maduro leading to his kidnapping.

This Trumpian tactic aims obviously at dividing Chavismo. On January 14, 2026, Trump doubled-down by referring to Delcy Rodriguez as a “terrific person“. But previously, on January 4, 2026, he had posted “she is willing to do what is necessary” and comply with US wishes – or else she could face a “very big price”. An “asset” that needs to be threatened with lethal force? 

This narrative deliberately created the impression that Delcy Rodriguez would not only distance Venezuela from Cuba but would completely abandon it to its own fate at the mercy of a bullish Hegemon that is threatening Cuba with “serious consequences“ if it did not surrender.

However, despite the dangerous situation Delcy Rodriguez’s government faces, which has led her to make some unpalatable policy adjustments and receive unsavory US visitors, Bolivarian solidarity with Cuba, though practically constrained – no oil shipments – has remained strong.

Delcy Rodriguez government’s first political act was to pay tribute to the 32 Cuban combatants who gave their lives whilst carrying out cooperation and defense missions in Venezuela. Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yván Gil, issued a statement on January 4, 2026 praising the 32 Cuban heroes who died as “a consequence of the criminal and infamous attack perpetrated by the Government of the United States against Venezuelan territory.” Gil thanked Cuba’s President Diaz-Canel and Raul Castro for their support and solidarity, adding that the combatants’ “sacrifice strengthen the historic links of fraternity, sovereignty and shared struggle of [Cuba and Venezuela]”.

On January 11, 2026, Trump’s renewed threats against Cuba: “there will be no more oil or money for Cuba. Zero!”, adding “Cuba lived for many years, on large amounts of oil and money from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, but not anymore!” Venezuela’s unambiguous response, issued on the same day, reaffirmed its right to the long-standing relations with Cuba in accordance with the UN principle of the “free exercise of self-determination and national sovereignty”; relations historically based on “brotherhood, solidarity, cooperation, and complementarity.”

On January 23, 2026, President Diaz-Canel reaffirmed support and solidarity with Venezuela and its people by strongly condemning the United States’ military aggression against Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. Diaz-Canel stressed Cuba’s decision to continue strengthening the historic bonds of brotherhood and cooperation that unites both nations.

Venezuela’s unbreakable solidarity with Cuba

Trump is, however, determined to do “regime change” in Cuba and increased the pressure with more sanctions. His Executive Order declared that “the policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat … to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” The E.O. threatened to apply tariffs against any country that dared to sell oil to Cuba. Venezuela’s foreign minister condemned Trump’s decision seeking to impose punitive measures on countries that maintain legitimate trade relations with Cuba. The foreign minister’s statement expressed Venezuela’s “solidarity with the people of Cuba” and called “on the international community to take collective action to address the humanitarian consequences arising from acts of aggression of this nature.”

In February 2026, after further threats against Cuba, including a US naval blockade, a solidarity campaign – “Love is paid with love”, title of José Marti’s famous play – was launched in Venezuela. It seeks to raise awareness about the defense of Latin America as a Zone of Peace and opposes militarization and foreign interference. The national campaign has three stages: 

1. Saving Lives: aimed at collecting medicines, health inputs and medical equipment;
2. Light and Hope for Our Brothers and Sisters: that will seek donations from organizations, political parties, and citizens to purchase solar panel systems to be installed (in hospitals, schools, laboratories) as decided by the Cuban government; and
3. Corn from the Patria Grande: to collect non-perishable foodstuffs and arrange vessels for the sea transport to Havana.

On April 18, 2026 Bolivarian Venezuela went further by hosting “A Song for Cuba“ to protest the US blockade. The concert, part of the “Love Is Paid with Love” campaign, was organized by the Simon Bolivar Cultural Brigade Institute for Peace, the University of Communications, and the Future Movement. The PSUV, the Venezuela-Cuba Mutual Friendship and Solidarity Movement, and ALBA Movements also participated. 

The concert brought together prominent singers and artists, such as Grupo Madera (Venezuelan and Caribbean folk rhythms and political lyrics), Elena Gil, Iván Pérez Rossi, the Barlovento Black Theatre, and soloists such as Marta Doudiers, the troubadour Leonel Ruiz, as well as members of the Simón Bolívar Cultural Brigade, all paying tribute to Cuban resistance. The funds raised will finance the installation of solar panel systems in Cuba. Cuba’s ambassador to Venezuela, Jorge Luis Mayo Fernández, was in attendance.

On May 1, 2026, Trump imposed further sanctions ratcheting up the pressure against the besieged island. Trump’s new E.O. included more restrictions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. It imposes new sanctions on entities, persons, or affiliates that support Cuba’s security apparatus. It also authorizes new sanctions on covered persons, entities, or financial institutions that have conducted or facilitated transactions with persons or entities sanctioned under the order.

On May 7, 2026, the US “sanctioned the Business Administration Group (GAESA, a mega Cuban state company), its director Ania Lastres, and the mining company Moa Nickel, a joint venture with the Canadian firm Sherritt International.” Sherritt announced “the immediate suspension of its direct participation in joint ventures in Cuba, exacerbating the economic impact of the U.S. sanctions on strategic sectors.” Marco Rubio said the sanction aims to deprive the Cuban government access to “illicit” assets, “claiming that this mining joint venture benefits from assets expropriated from U.S. corporations after the Cuban Revolution.”

One day later (May 8, 2026), a “shipment of nearly six tons of food from Venezuela arrived in Havana as part of the “Love Is Paid With Love” campaign. It was the sixth such shipment. This was in addition to a shipment of 25 tons of food and medicine from Venezuela that arrived in Cuba sent in April 26. “Shipments are coordinated through collection centers in all 24 Venezuela states and are transported by [Venezuela’s] airline Conviasa.”

US aggression against Cuba continues

Trump is persistently threatening Cuba with a military takeover. It is clear Trump’s aggression against socialist Cuba seeks to “subdue the Cuban population through starvation and desperation.” US sanctions and the oil blockade “have undermined the Cuban energy system, and thus impacted Cuba’s ability to care for the sick, pregnant women, newborns, and people requiring surgery, not to mention the millions affected by the paralysis of the productive, commercial, and food systems on a small island of just over 10,000,000 inhabitants that bears the brunt of pressure from the world’s most powerful country.”

As with other US imperialist endeavors, the US would relish Cuba’s economic collapse triggering a massive humanitarian crisis, no matter how high the number of casualties. In this regard, a survey “revealed that one in three Cuban households reported hunger in 2025, an increase of 9.3 percentage points compared to the previous year.” According to the Food Monitor Program, by April 2026, “96.91% of the population lacked adequate access to food.” All caused by US strangulation of Cuba. Faced with such onslaught, Cuba’s President Díaz-Canel described the United States as an “aggressor power” and Cuba as the “island under attack.” Diaz-Canel insisted that Cuba does not fear defending its independence.

In case there was any doubt as to the strength of the unbreakable solidarity and fraternal links of Bolivarian Venezuela with Cuba, Blanca Eekhout, president of the Simón Bolívar Institute, stated: “The children of Simón Bolívar will not abandon Cuba, because our America is one. The destiny of one is the destiny of all, and the destiny will be one of victory, unity, solidarity, and love. … Cuba is hope, it will never be a threat; [Cuba] is dignity and example.”

Francisco Dominguez is head of the Research Group on Latin America at Middlesex University. He is also the national secretary of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign in the U.K. and co-author of “Right-Wing Politics in the New Latin America” (Zed Books, 2011).

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch