The Ascoval plant will not relocate part of its activity to Germany

After two intense days, the mobilization seems to have paid off around the emblematic Ascoval electric steel plant in Sainte-Saulve (North), threatened with seeing part of its activity transferred to Germany by its owner, Saarstahl.

After several meetings and at the end of a new meeting in the evening at the Ministry of the Economy with the German steel group, the office of the Deputy Minister in charge of industry, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, informed the ‘Agence France-Presse (AFP), Thursday, November 18, that “Saarstahl has[vait] indicated its agreement to abandon its plan to transfer Ascoval’s activity to its German site ”.

Wednesday, the representatives of the CGT and CFDT unions of the site acquired four months ago by Saarstahl had claimed that the steelworks could see 40% of its production temporarily transferred to Germany. In question: the rise in the price of the electricity which supplies the site, at the cutting edge in environmental matters.

Coal cheaper, but more polluting

Saarstahl had not confirmed, claiming to have taken “No decision”, but the group recognized that they were studying “Temporary options” for “Limit negative effects” of this increase, when its blast furnaces in Germany turn to coal, much cheaper.

The government reacted quickly, after several years of mobilization to save the site and again a recent loan of 20 million euros at the beginning of the year to pay salaries. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, said on Thursday morning that he was ” No way “ that the steelworks see its activity relocated ” definitively “ in Germany.

Recalling that he was “Beaten with a lot of energy” to save this factory employing 270 employees and producing steel bars intended for the manufacture of rails, in particular for the SNCF, and to find a buyer for it, he had assured that the government did not intend to “Drop it”.

To believe Bercy, the commotion of the fight even started there ” Several weeks “ to reduce the costs of companies affected by the rise in energy prices, with in particular the announcement, at the beginning of November, of aid to companies that consume the most electricity, including Ascoval.

A “scandalous” relocation

Political reactions were not long in coming, in the midst of the pre-election campaign, when the government made reindustrialization and decarbonization of industry one of its priority objectives. As early as Wednesday, the deputy for the North and Communist presidential candidate Fabien Roussel wrote to Bruno Le Maire to ask him to“Intervene without delay”.

The candidates for the nomination of the Republican party Valérie Pécresse and Xavier Bertrand had also stepped up to the plate, the first criticizing a relocation “Scandalous and ubiquitous, especially a few days after the COP26 in Glasgow”.

This threat did indeed fall badly for the executive, which displays the ambition to make France a land of industrial and carbon-free production, thanks to nuclear electricity that emits low CO emissions.₂.

“The government must comply with Ascoval’s request on the electricity tariff”, had claimed Thursday Xavier Bertrand, the current president of the Hauts-de-France region, on the sidelines of a meeting of the regional council. ” When we want we can. The President of the Republic is coming to the region tomorrow? Well, he himself has to provide the answer very clearly “, added Xavier Bertrand, whileEmmanuel Macron goes to the North and the Aisne, Friday, for a trip on the theme of regional development.

The subject is sensitive, as the fate of Ascoval has mobilized in recent years the government and Emmanuel Macron, both as Minister of the Economy under François Hollande, then since his arrival at the Elysee Palace. During the takeover by the German steel group, validated in August, Bruno Le Maire welcomed “Very good news for the future of the French steel industry and for employees”.