The government has approved the takeover by the British Liberty Steel steel nordic Ascoval and the factory rails from Hayange (Moselle), announced on Thursday 13 August 2020 the ministry of the Economy, thereby concluding a series of industrial for several years. “Bruno Le Maire and Agnès Pannier-Runacher “, respectively minister and secretary of State for the Economy, “have given their agreement,” announced Bercy to Agence France-Presse, confirming information of le Figaro.
The announcement, which should be formalized Friday morning, mark, a priori, the conclusion of several years of uncertainty for the site Ascoval, based in Saint-Saulve (Nord), which was threatened with closure since the bankruptcy of its owner. It is one of the most important issues in industrial since the beginning of the quinquennium, Emmanuel Macron, with several failed projects recovery, in particular by the franco-belgian Altifort early 2019. Ascoval had then been acquired by British Steel, but the bankruptcy of the latter had raised the concerns of the nearly 300 employees of the French site, even if the latter was not supposed to be affected by the procedure.
Hayange, a site of “strategic”
For its part, the plant of Hayange (Moselle), officially referred to as the France Rail Industry, is the leading provider of rails for the SNCF, and also belongs to British Steel. The plant, which employs just over 400 people, was to be sold to the chinese Jingye, who had taken over British Steel, but the transaction was stalled, for lack of green light from the finance ministry. In fact, the site is considered “strategic” by the State, which must, therefore, give its approval in case of sale to a foreign investor.
The chinese was part of the groups that have subsequently proposed a project of recovery, as well as the giant ArcelorMittal. These two projects included the recovery of Ascoval, the government wishing to associate the two sites. But it is ultimately another offer of combining the two, that of the British Liberty Steel, which had been validated by the justice at the end of July. Remained, therefore, only the green light from Bercy to the project, which provides for the retention of jobs. Now, “we will follow very closely the commands and we’ll see if this starts again on the right foot,” said Bruno Le Maire in Le Figaro.
