The employees of British Steel Saint-Saulve, formerly Ascoval, are again in uncertainty: their British buyer, the steelmaker British Steel, will be placed in bankruptcy, raising again doubts about the viability of the French site taken there is just a week. Bercy is reassuring however: the disappointments of British Steel will have no impact on the steelmaker located in the North ... But the ministry also recognizes not having a long-term vision, while the British group is in bad economic health.
Why is the Saint-Saulve site currently spared?
The British government Wednesday placed in liquidation British Steel, one week after the effective resumption of Ascoval. This bankruptcy concerns the historical activities of the steelmaker, that is to say notably its British activities. And the French state assures: this liquidation will have no impact on the site of Saint-Saulve, because it has in fact been taken over by the parent company of British Steel.
"This procedure does not include the steelworks of British Steel Saint-Saulve which is owned by another company of the group", the parent company of the British Steel group, Olympus Steel Ltd, detailed Bercy. The ministry said that the "business plan" of the French site, which has 271 employees, did not depend on the British activities, "nor industrially, nor for its financing". In the United Kingdom, however, some 4,500 employees are expected to lose their jobs if no buyer is involved.
What will happen next?
The plan decided between the French State and British Steel to save Ascoval will continue in the immediate future. "The commitments of the government and the French state will be respected and therefore the funds released" in favor of British Steel, assured Wednesday the spokesman of the government, Sibeth Ndiaye, in the aftermath of the announcement of the liquidation. "In the same way, on the side of British Steel, the commitments that have been made are now being made," she added.
The funds promised by the French State and British Steel for this recovery began to be paid on May 16 and the steel mill officially entered the fold of British Steel, allowing the resumption of activity. In detail, the state has decided to release 15 million euros loan, and the British 5 million, to which will be added a future loan of 40 million euros. Bercy claims to have faith in Olympus Steel's ability "to provide the necessary funds in the planned schedule".
Is Ascoval really safe?
Upon learning of the liquidation of British Steel, employees of the Saint-Saulve site briefly stopped the steelworks furnace on Wednesday, "for the first time since the existence of the plant" according to the Inter, to mark their concerns on the economic strength of the recovery project. This oven was restarted at the end of an extraordinary EC, and the announcement by the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire that he would receive the employees by the end of the week.
If the fears remain for employees, it is that the conditional remains relevant in this file: the Ministry of Economy, it is said to have "assurances" and therefore visibility only "over the next six months". There is no assurance that in the long term, the Saint-Saulve site will not be threatened again. Especially in the medium term, British Steel Saint-Saulve will have "slightly heavier financing needs", if he wants to keep his order book, admits Bercy, who wants however to ensure "total support of the State "at the industrial site.
Bruno Le Maire also acknowledged Wednesday that this record of the recovery of Ascoval has "taken ups and downs" and that "it is difficult because the steel market is difficult." The choice of British Steel as Ascoval buyer finally won because he was the only candidate in the running. But the British group is facing serious financial difficulties, notably because of Brexit: in the absence of an exit agreement from the United Kingdom of the European Union, the steel exported by British Steel could be heavily taxed. A threat that scares potential new customers, and makes British Steel, cash-strapped, not out of the economic slump.