Paris (AFP)

The Ascoval steel plant finally seems out of the crisis, after years of uncertainties and painful twists and turns: Bercy validates its takeover of the Hayange rail plant by a British group, Liberty Steel, which intends to produce more ecological way.

Bruno Le Maire and Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of the Economy and Deputy Minister responsible for Industry, "have authorized the Liberty group to acquire the France Rail Industry industrial sites in Hayange (Moselle) and Ascoval in Saint-Saulve (North) ", indicates a press release from Bercy on Friday.

“As part of this takeover, the Liberty group has undertaken to provide 65 million euros in new financing,” Bercy explains.

This recovery, which saves nearly 700 jobs, including 430 in Hayange and 270 in Saint-Saulve, "lays the foundations for a solid industrial sector", commented Mr. Maire.

"This is very good news," said Nacim Bardi, CGT delegate to Ascoval, told AFP. "Now it's up to us to play, it's up to us to get off on the right foot, we will have to satisfy our customers," he added, adding that the unions will monitor working conditions.

"We are angry and disappointed, we were not consulted before the final decision," lamented Djamal Hamdani, CFDT representative at France Rail Industry. "It is not normal to do without us, we could not give our complaints to Liberty about the investments."

On the Bercy side, we insist on the fact that the group takeover will allow Ascoval to benefit from "stable outlets" leading it to "find an economic balance", while securing "raw material supplies" for the site of Hayange, "which until now depended mainly on a site located outside the European Union".

Named France Rail Industry and owned until now by British Steel, the Hayange plant is the main supplier of rails to SNCF. It is considered "strategic" by the State, which was to give its approval to its acquisition by a foreign group.

- Circular economy -

British buyer Liberty Steel is part of GFG Alliance, a steel, aluminum and energy giant, which has sales of over $ 20 billion and employs 35,000 people worldwide.

The group's ambition is to manufacture greener products, relying in particular on recycling.

This recovery "is exemplary of the challenges of relocation and decarbonization of our industry that we wish to bring within the framework of the recovery plan", underlined Mr. Le Maire.

"The 1st square bars come out of the Ascoval lines: the renewal for a site that some had condemned, months of work and teams that have not given up", rejoiced in a tweet Ms. Pannier-Runacher.

The new group formed by the Ascoval and Hayange sites must supply "the large European transport companies" with "greener" rails thanks to electric furnaces and the recycling of scrap, explains Liberty Steel.

“We have been interested in these two sites for many years and have always believed that their future is linked,” commented Sanjeev Gupta, President of GFG Alliance. The group "will be able to connect them to greater opportunities in the market".

- End of a soap opera? -

This takeover seems to mark the end of years of uncertainties for Ascoval, which was threatened with closure by the bankruptcy of its main shareholder and had become one of the main industrial files of Emmanuel Macron's five-year term, with many twists and turns.

At the end of 2018, a takeover offer had been submitted by the Franco-Belgian Altifort. Validated by the courts, the project failed however a few months later for lack of funding. A few months later, the British British Steel took over the factory but went bankrupt shortly after.

This year, several offers were in competition for the takeover of the site and that of Hayange. The Chinese Jingye, who bought British Steel, had tried his luck and obtained the preference of the unions. The ArcelorMittal group was also a candidate. At the end of July, justice had finally ruled in favor of Liberty. All that remained was to obtain Bercy's approval.

burs-jdy-vac / pn / nth

© 2020 AFP