TORONTO - Sherritt International Corp. says president and CEO David Pathe intends to step down from his role in 2021 but will stay on until a replacement is in place.

The company says Pathe's eight years as leader were marked by difficult and unpredictable nickel prices and financial threats posed by its participation in the Ambatovy nickel mine in Madagascar.

The Toronto-based company concluded a court-supervised restructuring in August that allowed it to exit the mine partnership and eliminate debt and cash calls associated with the investment.

Sherritt chairman Richard Lapthorne says Pathe's tenure was also made more difficult by "increasingly hostile" U.S. policy toward Cuba, where the company mines for cobalt and nickel and produces oil and power with its Cuban partners.

Pathe also supervised Sherritt's exit from the thermal coal business, selling assets including seven producing mines in Alberta and Saskatchewan in 2014 for $946 million.

Before becoming CEO in 2012, Pathe acted as chief financial officer and general counsel and corporate secretary for Sherritt.