Emmanuel Macron is trying to give hope to ArcelorMittal employees. If the removal of 600 jobs on all of the seven French sites of the steelmaker is still relevant, The President of the Republic announced several advances likely to appease the great concern of employees to see this heavy goods vehicle of the global steel industry put the key under the door in France.
Even before the management press release, the Head of State said during an interview with journalists from the regional press, which EcelorMittal was going to invest in France well to perpetuate his locations: “I want to reassure them (…) ArcelorMittal, in the coming hours, will confirm the fact that they will decarbonize their sites in France and start by Dunkirk,” said the head of the state.
In the process, management indicated “its intention to invest in a first electric oven, on its Dunkirk site, for an amount of around 1.2 billion euros”. Above all, Emmanuel Macron announced that EDF had reached an agreement with companies that consume a lot of electricity on the price of energy. “The strategy that has been asked to conclude contracts with the most electro intensive will be concluded in the few days. ArcelorMittal is one of them and that, it is a key element for decarbonation. »»
A very sensitive subject between the shareholder state and the management of EDF who had cost his place to the former CEO of the energetician Luc Rémont, Replaced by Bernard Fontana. To consolidate this investment, the President of the Republic has also confirmed a hardening of the trigger threshold of the safeguard clauses, which make it possible to restrict steel imports in Europe.
Bypass
Another element, the rules for compensation at the borders of carbon mechanisms will be hardened: “There is a hole in the racket, recognized the head of state. When an Indian company exports to Europe, logically, we should say: In your production in India, you are not at the same CO2 level so you will pay the difference. But they found a bypass mechanism, they create factories just to export to the European market and comply with our standards. »»
While the rest of their production exported to other countries, is carried out with less restrictive standards. “So, in a way, they go out our rules a little. You should not just look at the production and CO2 emissions of these factories (for Europe), but their medium -sized emissions in India ”.
Elements which obviously have been enough to reassure the direction of ArcelorMittal: “In this context, ArcelorMittal remains confident in the fact that all the conditions will be in place soon, after summer, allowing it to relaunch its European decarbonation plan”, wrote the group in a press release.
