Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced Monday the receipt of an important steel order for the Ascoval steelworks in Saint-Saulve, in the North, six months after the takeover by Olympus. Cédric Orban, director of the Ascoval site, is delighted with the activity of the steel mill, "in development".

REACTION

The Ascoval steel plant in Saint-Saulve, in the North, has just won a major order: it comes from the British Steel plant in Hayange, Moselle, and is concerned with the supply, each year for four years, of 140,000 tonnes of oil. steel for the manufacture of rails for SNCF Réseau. It will be effective from September 2020. Six months after the resumption of the site by the British Olympus, the steel plant regains form, as stated by its director Cédric Orban at the microphone of Europe 1. "We spent a lot of things who are behind us, there will be challenges but we will push a big egg, "he says.

From 136,000 to 340,000 tons

The tripartite agreement announced Monday by the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire doubles the site's order book, which has been idling since the recovery. "Our business is developing with new customers," says Cédric Orban. "The volume increases with 136,000 tons next year.We should be at a rate of 200,000 tons at the end of the year.Add to that the volume for the SNCF of 140,000 tons, we will be at a rate of 340,000 tons in about a year. "

Encouraging prospects for #Ascoval. The steel site will supply 140,000 tonnes of steel for SNCF rails. pic.twitter.com/xmKlKAbKQQ

- Lionel Gougelot (@Lgougelot) November 25, 2019

For the director of the northerner site, this increase in the volume of production is moreover with a lower ecological impact. "We rely on a new sector, based on an electric furnace with a technology that emits ten times less CO2 than traditional steel," he explains.

A "European premiere"

"We recycle steel from the region, we do not bring coal ore from China, Brazil or Australia, it's good from an ecological point of view, it's still a European first" , defends Cédric Orban ", who prides himself on leading" the only industry in Europe to manufacture rails for TGV from steel scrap recycling ".