FDN / Politics / Government / ArcelorMittal announces 636 job cuts in France The steel giant detailed its redundancy plan at an extraordinary CSE meeting on Wednesday April 30 with 385 potential redundancies at seven French sites including 113 at Florange and 162 at Dunkirk formerly the world’s number one steelmaker presented details of its downsizing plan in France to trade unions on Wednesday It’s a plan that’s causing teeth to grind at a time when the group’s financial indicators are in the green The Florange site in Moselle would lose 194 jobs The packaging sector (cold-rolled sheet for packaging) is the hardest hit Even the lines dedicated to sheet metal for the automotive industry considered to be the spearhead of ArcelorMittal’s business in Moselle with 295 job losses and 162 employees likely to be made redundant 636 jobs could be lost and 385 potential redundancies feared in France “The unions have been fuming ever since the plan was announced And with good reason: despite the crisis cited by management ArcelorMittal is in remarkable financial health margins remain comfortable and the group continues to buy back its own shares Flat products prices may have fallen in 2024 but they remain at high levels (around 778 euros per tonne) the Group’s total production has even risen from 55.3 million tonnes in 2023 to 57.9 million in 2024 France is suffering the biggest decline in European steel production with a 26% drop and 3.7 million tonnes less than in 2019 through its General Secretary Lionel Burriello is calling for “an immediate halt to this PSE before it destroys even more jobs lives and the whole balance of the valley” The unions also denounce the paradoxical strategy of the group which complains about imports into Europe while organizing them itself via its joint ventures abroad these joint ventures account for 11% of the Group’s EBITDA — Assemblée nationale (@AssembleeNat) April 30, 2025 c’est l’ensemble de l’industrie du nord qui va tomber » : pourquoi il faut nationaliser les hauts-fourneaux à la mobilisation pour contrer les suppressions d’emploi annoncées par ArcelorMittal ➡️ https://t.co/FvgmFGaCKp pic.twitter.com/mHP18UCyue — L’Humanité (@humanite_fr) April 30, 2025 France's industry minister has accused the world's largest steelmaker of "lying" and urged it to leave the country Montebourg also threatened the company with temporary nationalisation "We no longer want Mittal in France because they don't respect France," the minister said in an interview with the financial newspaper The plant needs to be closed because we all do more recycling now just as we have been urged to do by the hippies for decades My apologies but I will make a small technical detour into the details of iron- and steel-making Then taking the large resulting ingots and turning them into something useful: in this case There is no possible technological substitution for a rolling mill but there is for a blast furnace recycle old scrap in an electric arc furnace to make our ingots to feed our rolling mill Ever since Teddy Goldsmith's book Blueprint for Survival we've been told we must move the metals industry from a "flow" system into a "stock" one Instead of continually digging up more ore to make new metals we should instead think of how much we already have above ground as environmentalists have been telling us in the decades since that publication In the steel industry the biggest problem has always been that we've had scrap metal dealers for millennia but no one could quite make auto steel out of that scrap We only knew how to make that out of virgin steel cracked that problem a couple of decades back and what with the slowness of the industry the technique is only now fanning out across the industry This is what is killing the Florange plant That plant comes in two parts: there's a rolling mill making auto steel for the German car industry not any of the companies circling if there is a "temporary nationalisation" Because we've no substitute for a rolling mill in making auto steel no one wants the two blast furnaces there which make up the other part of the plant as we can now make our ingots of steel out of scrap It's a standard assumption in the metals world that no one will ever again build a new blast furnace in the rich we don't need all the ones we've already got that half of the Florange plant is closing because the hippies have won – as they should indeed have done on this one particular point Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times The project involves creating a new 7.9km section through Florange and a bypass around Thionville Prefecture de Moselle/ Montage: Maison Moderne After long months of waiting to find out the route of the future A31 bis motorway the project is entering a new phase: that of public consultation French transport minister Clément Beaune finally unveiled the chosen route for the future A31 bis: No This new 7.9km section starts at the Sainte-Agathe interchange and passes through Florange via a 2.2km tunnel to rejoin the current A31 route to the west of Thionville (Bétange interchange) A bypass to the west of Thionville is also planned This will be a 2x2 lane road stretching 8km between the Sainte-Agathe interchange on the A30 at Fameck to the south and the étoile interchange on the A31 at Florange to the north the minister said he hoped the work would start quickly which has long been described as a sea serpent the consultation phase is set to begin on 3 September and run until 1 October with the aim of gathering public opinion so that local elected representatives can amend their planning documents accordingly The prefecture is clear: this consultation “is not intended to discuss the appropriateness of the project which has already been the subject of a public debate in 2015 and a preliminary consultation in 2018-2019 or the choice of route for the northern sector which has already been the subject of a consultation in 2022-2023.” An online space has been set up to collect residents’ opinions and questions and registers have been set up in several municipalities directly affected by the project: Zoufftgen There will also be office hours at town halls (see below) the project is not intended to cure all the ills of cross-border workers on the road Nobody thought that the A31 bis was a solution The project is first and foremost a matter of upgrading,” said the mayor of Thionville and chairman of the urban community the project is intended as “a response to the challenges of mobility in the Lorraine corridor,” as the state itself points out describing it as “a complementary approach to rail and river projects.” Even so the future route should help to relieve traffic congestion on the A31 Some aspects of the project remain unresolved the question of the cost of the toll that is to be installed on this future route the project will have to undergo a public enquiry in order to apply for a declaration of public utility (DUP) in 2025 The DUP is expected in the second quarter of 2026 before a call for tenders to find the concessionaire in 2027 or until 2033 according to the provisional timetable communicated by the French government the estimated cost of the route under Florange is between €700m and €900m The project owner’s office hours in town halls are scheduled as follows: — 4 September from 4pm to 6pm in Terville at the town hall; — 12 September from 4pm to 6pm in Richemont; — 14 September from 10:30am to 12:30pm in Florange; from 2:30pm to 4:30pm in Thionville (Maison de quartier Dupont des Loges); — 18 September from 2pm to 4pm in Entrange; — 18 September from 4.30 to 6.30 pm in Zoufftgen You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Personalized news alerts with our mobile app Please subscribe to continue reading… Billings Senior graduate Taylor Mims is in her second season playing in Ligue A She is with the Terville-Florange Olympique Club this season Taylor Mims walked through the Paris airport in a state of bewilderment Mims had left the United States on her birthday in August was there to pick her up to guide her around Mims had been emailing with the president of the Nancy club in English she had assumed everyone in France spoke her language not realizing until later that the Nancy president was using a translation program for his emails was hearing the language for the first time in the Paris airport She couldn’t figure out where the trains were “looking like a chicken with its head cut off.” Mims eventually found someone who spoke English and pointed her to an information desk where she received instructions on how to find a train to take her to Nancy Mims learned the team had signed another American to play her position teams prefer to sign Americans to different positions so they aren’t competing for playing time All the travel miscues had begun to pile on and now finding out she’d have to beat out a fellow American for court time ‘Whoa,’ this is not for me,” Mims said last week from France during a break in her practice schedule ‘I’m here for a job and I’m here for a reason.’” the former Billings Senior and Washington State University standout France’s 2019-20 Ligue A season was ended just before the playoffs began and getting home was a bit of a scramble for Mims Now with Terville-Florange for the 2020-21 season in the same French league COVID continues to wreak havoc like it does everywhere else The league began its season by canceling the playoffs and regular-season matches have been postponed due to positive player tests Her team is in eighth place of the 15 teams but Mims is having a solid year: She ranks among the league leaders in points per match The league schedule is supposed to run from September through April but there is fear professional sports could be shuttered once again Taylor Mims (10) says she enjoys playing for Terville-Florange Olympique Club "It's a nice community that we have here," she says Mims likens the league to the top half of the Pac-12 and ranks among Washington State’s career leader in points (third) kills per set (ninth) and matches played (10th) Mims’ teammates range from seasoned professionals who are 15 years her junior to players like her — 23 years old and recently out of university “I would say there’s a lot more defense and a lot of strategic shots you don’t see in college,” Mims said comparing the European style of volleyball to her college experience I just remember hitting the ball as hard as I possibly could This is Mims’ third season of pro ball overseas and she has yet to complete a full schedule Her journey started in 2018 with half a season in Spain with the encouragement of WSU coach Jen Greeny Taylor Mims was a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree (and once honorable mention) and finished her career at Washington State in the top-10 in several career categories for the Cougars Mims was all set to graduate with a sports management degree needing only to complete an internship with the WSU athletic department when Greeny told Mims that the internship opportunity would always be there Greeny pointed out that the Spanish Super League still had a half a season left and that Mims should give it a try to test the waters to see if a pro career overseas was for her Her agent helped Mims land a contract with CV Harris in Tenerife and she spent the next few months playing volleyball on the Canary Islands She returned to WSU to complete her internship and train and received the offer from Nancy to play in France But just as her club moved into the playoff contention toward the end of the 2019-2020 season she hooked up with Terville-Florange this season While her first season with Nancy was a difficult transition playing for Terville-Florange has been rejuvenating The Terville-Florange club opened a new facility TFOC has several levels of teams and Mims said she enjoys seeing and being around the younger players "It's a nice community that we have here," Mims said Taylor Mims strikes a pose while riding a bike in Paris on a typical day and has breakfast at 9 (most mornings a baguette with cheese and jam) where she takes her COVID test if it’s due Practice is usually a couple hours (depending on “how happy the coach is,” Mims joked) and she goes back home for a protein shake and lunch After some time on the couch watching “Gossip Girl,” it’s time for a snack before another practice The second practice session lasts until after 8 p.m. and the players need a government pass for breaking the 6 p.m which is a COVID restriction in Mims’ area of northeastern France near the Luxembourg border lunch breaks at the school meant a trip to Taco Bell though she did hit up Taco Bell on her recent Christmas trip back home to Billings a coffee-flavored dessert of Italian origin “If you go to a restaurant and they say they have homemade tiramisu in the back With little opportunity to play pro volleyball back home (Athletes Unlimited is starting a league in the U.S. but that’s limited to 44 players and has just a six-week run) continuing a volleyball career overseas is the only option with hopes of landing a spot on a league team in Italy or in Turkey which have some of the top domestic leagues in the world maybe the United States will eventually have a strong league Mims does have interest in playing at home but wants to see how the Athletes Unlimited first-year experience works out volleyball has taken her to not only Spain and France when she was a part of the United States Collegiate National Team when she was with WSU Mims said her agent recently received a call from a German team that has interest in her playing domestically there It’s been a long way to go for a kid who a few years ago was just looking for her next taco fix even if her next stop has her running like a headless chicken When Mims's mind wanders back to her high school days or her social media sends her photo reminders of what she was doing on a specific date years ago she realizes what she’s doing now was never a part of her perceived future when she was at Senior Taylor Mims was a three-time Class AA state champion with Billing Senior “I was so into the moment in those pictures that I never thought that I could be doing this and still be playing today,” she said “It’s really eye-opening and makes me really happy to think I’ve gone from ‘I love doing this right now’ to where I am now I would have never have dreamed to be doing what I’m doing now “Hearing a different language and being in a country where you’re the foreigner and you’re the one who should adapt to different things It makes you think how big the world really is and how small the world really is.” Email Mike Scherting at mike.scherting@406mtsports.com or follow him on Twitter at @GazSportsSchert Email notifications are only sent once a day Taylor Mims was a three-time all-Pac-12 selection during her career with the Cougars New standard for the women's 800-meter race set at RMC Montana State has turned its attention to another candidate to become the its next head coach Froid-Lake was a buzzer beater away from facing Scobey in the 2011 state title game Both teams look like championship contenders this season The schools hope to reschedule the competitions for next week Bozeman had just 12 points through the game’s first 27 minutes The Broncs won back-to-back games for the first time this season and evened their record at 4-4 The canceled games include Hardin's second matchup with Billings Central at the Metra Billings Central and Big Timber backed up their No Missoula Sentinel and Dillon both beat ranked teams last week including back-to-back wins over Billings Central and Hardin Former JV soccer coaches at Senior will leads the Broncs' varsity teams Mims is in Puerto Rico with USA Volleyball competing in the Pan American Cup this month The former Billings Senior Bronc will be part of a pool for an upcoming tournament that could help determine the USA roster for the Paris Olym… Dubuque Wahlert grad Aliyah Carter is playing professional volleyball in Europe after a four-year career at Kansas State Asbury News Bellevue News Clayton County News Delaware County News Dubuque News Dubuque County News Dyersville News Jackson County News Peosta News East Dubuque News Galena News Jo Daviess County News Crawford County News Grant County News Iowa County News Lafayette County News Lancaster News Platteville News Field of Dreams Coverage All Bites and Brews More Caucus News Switzerland — It did not take Aliyah Carter very long to begin her professional volleyball career Less than two months after her last college match at Kansas State where she was one of the top players in program history the Dubuque Wahlert graduate was on a plane to France Carter signed in early January to play with the Terville-Florange Olympic Club in the northeast region of France “I have been here a month,” Carter said in a telephone interview on Feb It was very helpful; they have a bunch of Americans who signed (for volleyball) I was able to come to France as a medical reserve after an American woman (with Terville-Florange) got hurt The team can sign whomever they want in the middle of the season.” Carter ended her season at Kansas State on Nov 27 with a match at the University of Colorado She was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2020 and was a four-time Division I All-Region First Team as named by the American Volleyball Coaches Association — the first volleyball player in school history to receive all-region honors four times “I’m going to miss the competitor she was and every point wanting to win,” Kansas State coach Jason Mansfield said in a story in The Collegian and she’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever been around She’s really tried this whole season to take her game to the next level … When you’re in your fifth year and in the middle of the season when it gets tough Now she is in a region of France that borders Belgium Her club TFOC competes in the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball Challenge Cup Carter had never been to Europe until last month “I am playing against women that are older “I have to stay focused every single time the ball is up in the air That is really what I have been focusing on.” She had 15 kills in her first match and her club won three of the first four games with Carter on the roster it is very peaceful and very chill,” Carter said I think the language barrier is obviously the hardest thing My teammates were super welcoming when I got here The other Americans on her team are Karson Bacon no matter what type (and how many) fans you have Her team does strength and conditioning on Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays usually mean two practices per day Friday is sometimes a travel day when the team is on the road “Our second practice of the day is after lunch,” she said of Wednesday and Thursday sessions and I come back to my apartment and read a good book and cook supper.” Carter was able to get some ideas about living overseas from her brother now playing pro basketball in Czechia after ending his college career last year at the University of Missouri “I was able to ask him a lot of questions about what I should bring,” she said “He definitely had a lot of good (ideas) for things to bring.” Carter studied Spanish in school but had no background in French She is provided the use of an apartment by her French club “I love living alone; I lived alone in college and I have been buying groceries at local stores,” she said She is slated to head back to Iowa after the season ends in late April Carter is not sure where she will play during the 2025-26 campaign The long-term goal for Carter is to one day play in the pro league in Italy for the gold medal in the Paris Olympics last year Brazil beat Turkey to claim the bronze medal Virginia native David Driver, who has lived in Hungary and Poland, is the author of “Hoop Dreams in Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas.” Driver can be reached at daytondavid.com and davidsdriver@aol.com Current pro team: Terville-Florange in France Did you know: Carter was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2020 … 27 at Colorado … she signed with the pro team in France in early January … Her brother is a first-year pro basketball player in the Czech Republic … She was all-region all four years at Kansas State and won two state titles at Wahlert Catholic Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account graphics and logos shall not be reproduced rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium AFP shall not be held liable for any delays Arnaud Montebourg also threatened the company with temporary nationalisation "We no longer want Mittal in France because they don't respect France," Montebourg said in an interview with the financial newspaper Les Echos In a broadside directed at Lakshmi Mittal the Indian-born British billionaire who heads the company he added: "Mittal's lies since 2006 are overwhelming … he's never kept his word" The outburst came after ArcelorMittal announced it had postponed the relighting of a blast furnace at a plant in Dunkirk was shut down for maintenance in August but was due to be restarted next week The site produces 7m tonnes of steel and is often described as the company's "jewel" ArcelorMittal had already announced the closure of two blast furnaces at Florange in the former steel-making heartland of Lorraine The French government has until Saturday 1 December to find a buyer for the Florange furnaces and had contacted 117 steel-makers talks were said to have stalled because the furnaces and coke-plant Mittal has agreed to sell are not considered profitable enough without the rest of the Florange site which supplies steel to the German car industry Montebourg told Les Echos: "The problem of the blast furnaces at Florange [is] not the blast furnaces in Florange French ministers who vehemently opposed Mittal's hostile takeover of the Luxembourg-based Arcelor in 2006 say the steel magnate has broken promises made at the time about his commitment to France's steel industry whose company employs 20,000 people in France was said to be "extremely shocked" by Montebourg's outburst would meet President François Hollande on Tuesday Montebourg will meet the unions at the Florange plant on Wednesday The Russian steel-maker Severstal is believed to have expressed an interest in the site said he "applauded with both hands" Montebourg's attack but at last we have a government and a minister who dares stand up to him We are very happy that Arnaud Montebourg has shown the courage to go into battle and try to wrest Florange from Mittal's claws," he said If anyone thinks Mr Mittal will stop at closing Florange they are dreaming We have said from the start that it is Florange today and tomorrow it will be someone else's turn." "It's not with shocking words that it will survive We want a real industrial policy," said Yves Fabbri the minister for industrial renewal and considered to be on the left of Hollande's Socialist government has railed against a high-profile company boss after the car-maker PSA Peugeot Citroen announced the closure of a production line near Paris with the loss of 8,000 French jobs which holds a quarter of the company's shares In September he announced legislation to force companies planning to close factories to find buyers for any viable sites Hollande also pledged to halt factory closures on a visit to Florange during his successful election campaign in May may be little more than hot air: legal experts say a compulsory takeover by the French government is likely to be unconstitutional and against European Union laws On Monday Montebourg defended his plan to temporarily nationalise the steelworks at Florange as "reasonable" he attempted to row back on his interview with Les Echos "When I said 'We no longer want Mittal in France' I meant that we no longer want Mittal's methods in France methods which do not respect agreements and which are blackmail and threats," he said He said he was not "questioning the industrial presence of ArcelorMittal in France" he said to me: 'I will be the president of change.' He came to Florange and he said that he would fight a war against the kind of finance that closed our steelworks But he has bowed down before the markets and screwed the workers instead." Few countries do gesture politics with as much panache as the French. But the anger last week in this picturesque corner of north-eastern France After hundreds of years of steel production in the region the famous blast furnaces of Florange were shut down for good on Wednesday no longer required for service by the current owner the billionaire businessman Lakshmi Mittal The long passionate campaign against their closure enthusiastically backed by Hollande before he won the presidential election a year ago there was a suggestion that the new man in the Elysée would nationalise it rather than let the town's steel-producing tradition die the steelworkers of Lorraine became the latest section of the French population to become bitterly disillusioned with Hollande "This tombstone is to testify that he let us down," said Weber "Maybe we'll take it to the Socialist party headquarters in Paris to remind them." this has been some inaugural year in office for France's first left-wing president in nearly two decades Hollande is sometimes criticised for a Hamlet-like tendency to hesitate and his sorrows have come not as single spies but in battalions which have arrived in Paris with ominous frequency Unemployment reached a record high last week and is up 11.5% from this time last year The passing of a bill to legalise gay marriage and adoption split the country And in a public relations disaster of staggering proportions for a government committed to cleaning up politics confessed to squirrelling away millions of euros in a secret Swiss bank account to avoid tax No wonder Hollande apparently told aides that his presidency resembled a "toboggan ride" the sheer speed of his downhill trajectory in the polls has become a source of wonder to academic specialists "We have all been amazed by the extent of the fall in his approval ratings," said Bruno Cautrès Paris's elite college devoted to political studies "To go in less than a year from 65% approval to just 25% is remarkable." Hollande is already more unpopular than Sarkozy ever was he has the worst poll ratings of any president of the fifth republic And by way of a one-year anniversary present the magazine L'Express has just devoted 15 pages to a withering dissection of his performance under the damning headline "Monsieur Faible" (Mr Weak) really deserve such a hard time after just 12 months in power "When you are on the left it's dangerous to sell dreams to voters at a time of economic crisis," says Cautrès "Hollande did not make it easy for himself by the way he ran his campaign He said that his enemy was high finance and that it was going to be possible to combine budgetary rigour with social justice Then he found himself putting up taxes and cutting public spending It doesn't look like your enemy is high finance then." the political editor of current affairs magazine Le Nouvel Observateur in seeking an emollient tone and reserving harsh rhetoric only for the very rich Hollande paved the way for a savage backlash from voters swaths of the electorate now feel they were sold a pup: "At the beginning some of his advisers were telling him to take the Churchillian approach – you know sweat and tears' to turn the economy round But Hollande didn't want to be aggressive or alarmist like that." he even told his prime minister [Jean-Marc Ayrault] not to be too gloomy in his first policy speech and then went on holiday Then when the terrible growth forecasts came in and the mass layoffs in industry began he was caught off-balance and has been struggling to catch up ever since." A deliberately unassuming style of leadership has allowed factions to flourish and In deliberately avoiding the hyperactive approach to the presidency that characterised the Sarkozy years Traits perceived as virtues when Hollande was running against Sarkozy are now seen as vices In a television interview following the disastrous Cahuzac affair the president of the republic referred somewhat quaintly to his "box of tools" for dealing with the economic crisis In subsequent lampoonings he was cruelly compared to a plumber dealing with a tsunami but many are also coming to loathe his successor's seeming inability to put on any kind of show in the nation's hour of need in the wake of Cahuzac's dramatic confession when Hollande forced ministers to disclose their assets failed to alter the impression of a man at the mercy of events Hollande's current nickname in the corridors of the Elysée – pépère "The French are contradictory about leadership," says Courage "They defy all kinds of authorities and yet at the same time they crave authority We have killed our kings and yet we are are looking for a king." when seeking an explanation for this vertiginous fall from grace And when it comes to France's current economic woes Angela Merkel may carry almost as much responsibility as her reluctant ally across the Rhine was struck by lightning and forced to turn back The new president finally made it later that day but as bad omens go this one was on the money One of the central pledges of Hollande's presidential campaign was a commitment to "renegotiate" the German-led European stability pact Conceived as the eurozone stumbled from crisis to crisis the pact inaugurated an era of deficit reduction and austerity that has all but flattened some economies and even spelt trouble in countries such as the Netherlands Renegotiation and a greater emphasis on growth and investment would have given the fledgling socialist administration – the first major socialist government to be elected in the eurozone since the financial crisis struck in 2008 – some breathing space But Hollande didn't even come close to getting his way having guaranteed the bailouts of eurozone countries overwhelmed by debt and the EU's centre-right governments had already signed up to a policy of austerity "Hollande didn't even try," says Courage Hollande has laboured under the suffocating constraints of a draconian economic programme designed to reduce France's budget deficit to 3% of GDP this year He tends to prefer the word "rigour" to "austerity" the government is well off track and a further €5bn in cuts now has to be found Hollande has started to talk of making "courageous choices" The left has denounced a rise in VAT which will hit the poor hardest citing Hollande's opposition to the same move by Sarkozy "Why won't a 'left-wing' rise in VAT have the same [negative] effect as a 'rightwing' one?" asked Le Monde Diplomatique this month in a coruscating attack on Hollande's "social-defeatism" The "competitiveness and jobs agreement" lower salaries and move workers more easily from site to site has also been condemned as an assault on hard-won workers' rights And Hollande's mooted cuts to pensions entitlements is a toxic row waiting to happen Hollande was never very precise about what he would cut and what taxes he would raise," says Cautrès "One of the lessons for parties of the centre-left is have a plan and be honest." the Depardieu affair was just one in a series of confrontations for a president who unwisely admitted to not liking the rich very much eventually withdrew a bid for Belgian citizenship denying that he was seeking to avoid the 75% tax rate But the acrimony surrounding the supertax was summed up by a Libération front page rich idiot!" Ruled unconstitutional by France's top court the tax has now become a levy on employers paying salaries over €1m a businessman touted as a possible future head of Medef the French equivalent of the CBI: "This class warfare has to stop." Hollande has admitted that he did not anticipate that the crisis "would last as long as it has in characteristically reassuring mode during a recent interview he also insisted that the labour market reforms and budgetary discipline he had put in place would allow France to turn the corner influential ministers such as Arnaud Montebourg and Benoît Hamon are lobbying for an abandonment of the austerity which has so overshadowed this desperate first year in power believes it is working," Hamon told the Observer "And Germany is the only country now that proposes austerity when it's clear there is no prospect of European unemployment rates going down We have to finish with the politics of austerity in Europe and François Hollande is part of this movement "We have to accept that this will cause political tension with the Germans and cause political differences The wave of opinion against austerity is in the majority now among leaders and economists which was at the heart of the postwar coal and steel agreement between France and Germany that was the precursor to the European Union there would be loud assent to that statement "This government could have made a stand on behalf of the other Europe where youngsters are deserting Spain to look for work and where they'll soon be deserting France too," said Frédéric Weber "They were elected on promises and hopes Why did they allow us to hope if they hadn't got the courage to stand up to finance and the demands of the Germans Do we really want everything to unravel and for the borders of Europe to close again François Hollande needs to start being a leader." This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media Netherlands – Charges related to its ailing European business and a drop in the value of its assets saw ArcelorMittal SA post a near $4 billion loss for the fourth quarter said Wednesday its net loss widened to $3.99 billion ( 2.94 billion) from $1 billion in the same period a year ago as both prices and volumes declined year on year The loss included $4.8 billion in charges and write-downs related to its European business notably the idling of plants in Madrid and Florange and the decision to close a plant in Liege The company has clashed with governments and labour unions over the facilities and remains cautious about its European business this year despite improvements elsewhere “Although we expect the challenges to continue in 2013 largely due to the fragility of the European economy we have recently seen some more positive indicators,” said the company's founder and chief executive together with cost cutting measures “are expected to support an improvement in the profitability of our steel business this year,” he said He forecast that steel shipments would grow by 2-3 per cent in 2013 and operating profit – which was $7.1 billion for the full year 2012 a 30 per cent fall from 2011 – would show at least some unspecified amount of growth in 2013 Investors appeared encouraged by the relatively upbeat forecast and the company's shares rose 1.7 per cent to (euro)12.645 in early trading in Paris apparently intended to underline the divergent fortunes of Europe and the rest of the world since the global financial crisis that began in 2007 global finished steel consumption has risen 16 per cent with China accounting for the bulk of the growth consumption fell dramatically around the time of the financial crisis in late 2008 but quickly recovered and is now only about 8 per cent lower than in 2007 and on an upward slope Europe initially recovered along with North America but has since fallen away again as austerity measures hurt demand Consumption is now nearly 30 per cent lower than it was in 2007 and a decline appears to be accelerating The company has obvious reasons for wanting to underline the difficulties it faces in Europe the company initially wanted to close two blast furnaces but after protests that led one politician to threaten to nationalize the site the company eventually struck a deal with French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to retrofit the furnaces instead It's investing  180 million to install systems that recycle blast gases and capture CO2 a dispute over 1,300 proposed layoffs continues Clashes between striking workers and police left two officers injured as recently as Jan Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of Canadian Metalworking Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of Canadian Fabricating & Welding Terms of Use Privacy Policy Contact Us Forgot password? 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Sign up the forging and steel-making tradition of the Lorraine region’s “Angel Valley" is gradually disappearing Retired iron workers now serve as volunteer guides at a museum dedicated to the industry The ArcelorMittal Florange-Hayange blast furnace in Hayange near Florange After the 2009 closure of the nearby Gandrange site a recent decision by ArcelorMittal to mothball two blast furnaces in Hayange-Florange has hastened fears that the forging and steel making tradition of the “Angel Valley” has come to an end.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters poses at the U4 museum in Uckange near Florange where production was halted in 1991 after a century of activity He is a volunteer guide at the museum.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters A view from a cemetery shows the ArcelorMittal blast furnace in Hayange near Florange in the Lorraine region of eastern France.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters Rusted chains are seen at the gate of one of the entrances to the Gandrange ArcelorMittal steelworks in Gandrange The decline of the industry started at the end of the 1970s.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters Two women walk with their children in the main street of Rosselange near Florange Unemployment in the area exceeds 10 per cent.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters A giant “SOS” sign stands in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary erected in 1903 and made of cast iron produced in a nearby blast furnace in Hayange the valley has endured the closure of industrial sites mines and furnaces.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters next to his helmet and carbine lamp at his home in Algrange near Florange.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters built from 1937 to 1939 and the only one in Europe entirely made from steel was built with steel produced in the Lorraine region.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters poses near a fire set up by workers on strike in front of the Florange ArcelorMittal plant in Florange Anthony worked until March 2012 as an interim worker at the plant Anthony is now unemployed.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters A combination picture shows nine road signs with the crossed out names of cities all ending with the word “ange” (“angel” in English) in the Angel Valley of the Lorraine region.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters a retired iron ore miner at the Algrange mine talks with his retired colleague Ernest Niessen in front of a wall fresco representing the work of iron miners in Algrange Leder retired in 1983 as a train driver at the mine at the age of 47 and still lives in Algrange in the house where he was born in 1936 The iron mines are part of the forging and steel making tradition in the Lorraine region’s “Angel Valley.”VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters The slogan “No to the closing” has been scrawled on a wall near the Gandrange ArcelorMittal steelworks in Gandrange near Florange.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters grandson of a steel worker and a student in tourism lives in Hayange and is a trainee at the Aumetz museum dedicated to the iron mines.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters General view of the Gandrange ArcelorMittal steelworks A sign that reads “end of the visit” is displayed at the U4 museum in Uckange near Florange The Uckange U4 furnace was turned into a museum in October 2007.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters A man walks along a railroad track of the Hayange-Florange ArcelorMittal site in Hayange.VINCENT KESSLER/Reuters Looking to access paid articles across multiple policy topics Interested in policy insights for EU professional organisations A decision by ArcelorMittal to pull out from the Ulcos "green" steelmaking project in France has effectively put an end to Europe's ambitions of becoming a global leader in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology according to a key lawmaker in the European Parliament.  ArcelorMittal withdrew an application to use the Florange site in northern France for an EU pilot project in less polluting steel that Paris had hoped could keep two idled blast furnaces going ArcelorMittal has been under fire for months in France over its plan to permanently shut its Florange furnaces on the grounds they are not economically viable It said it could not currently pursue the Ulcos project for technical reasons but denied it had abandoned the project "[This] is perfectly coherent with what is in the agreement signed with the French government," the company said adding: "This in no way means the Ulcos project is being abandoned." the EU lawmaker who crafted a special funding mechanism to support carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Europe said he was "bitterly disappointed" "The announcement today that steelmaker ArcelorMittal will not proceed with their Ulcos project in France means that not one single new CCS scheme is set to proceed," said Davies a British lawmaker in the European Parliament More than €1.5 billion of EU funding had been made available but the money will now be diverted to new renewable energy schemes "Hopes of Europe becoming a world leader in the development of a key technology to combat global warming have been dashed," Davies continued Romania and Poland have also failed to provide the additional money necessary "This is a huge blow to efforts to combat climate change," Davies said in a statement The announcement comes as a setback for European countries which are engaged in global climate talks at the UN summit in Doha "Today's news marks a major failure by Europe to step up to the mark," Davies said "We talk big about the need for action yet fail to deliver." "Most studies suggest that CCS is needed to prevent more than 20% of global warming emissions escaping into the atmosphere but the technology must be developed to bring down costs." Ulcos (Ultra-Low Carbon Dioxide Steelmaking) is a consortium of 48 European companies and other organisations working to develop ways to cut CO2 emissions from steel production in order to curb the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming ArcelorMittal had agreed to invest €180 million in Florange and keep the furnaces in working order so they could be used if its application to use the site for the Ulcos project was successful French authorities have voiced their support for Ulcos President François Hollande made the "promise" on Thursday (6 December) to "ensure that the project Ulcos is carried out" as planned Speaking on BFM Business radio the following day the French economy minister Pierre Moscovici added: "We will fight for the Ulcos project to see the light of day." if necessary the Minister said he was ready "to go himself to the European Commission" to defend the project adding that the government "is mobilised." Director of Communications at the European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP) a pro-CCS coalition bringing together energy companies "Our platform maintains that flexibility now would ensure that high-quality projects are able to be executed following ArcelorMittal's announcement is that now no CCS project has made it through the first tranche of NER300 funding awards this only highlights the need to accelerate the second tranche of funding scheduled for 2013 to ensure the EU can deliver an EU CCS demonstrate programme." Carbon captue and storage (CCS) technology aims to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants or cement factories and bury them in underground stores By the end of 2010, 234 CCS projects were active or planned globally This is despite soaring costs and cancellations by European countries including the Netherlands and Finland The demonstrators burned tyres, hay bales and wooden pallets outside the plant. Around 50 workers also blocked entry to the offices at 5.30am on Tuesday leaving around 200 to 300 senior workers assembled outside the building. It was the fourth protest in a week. On Monday workers cleared the office of the safety officer. Last Friday workers occupied the steel site for 24 hours, following a demonstration where several hundred workers stormed head offices shouting “Mittal, we want work!” With the unions CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE/CGC all joining forces, more protests are expected, for example on Wednesday, the European day of trade union action. In the meantime, ArcelorMittal continues to assure workers that the closure of the site's two furnaces is temporary and caused by a dip in demand, unlike the permanent closures of sites in Madrid and Liège. Some 5,000 jobs are at risk should the site close. PoliticsLuxembourg lawmakers divided over Israel-EU relationsAttempt to find unified position on extension of EU-Israel trade agreement failed during divisive committee meeting World of workJob market last year grew at slowest pace since financial crisisLuxembourg created fewer new jobs in 2024 than any year since the 2008-9 banking crisis Public administrationGovernment to create administration overseeing housing aidNew office aims to improve access to housing support and reduce delays AustraliaAustralians mark election day with 'democracy sausages' and in 'budgy smugglers'Australians fired up barbecues and wore tight-fit swim trunks called "budgy smugglers" to voting centers as they welcomed election day on Saturday (3 May) with some unique and quirky traditions. 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remember about the housing sector over the past 12 months are the rise in interest rates and the fall in property prices Advertiser contentProperty: I've decided to invest!The various forms of government support for investment Advertiser contentThe Luxembourg Times BusinessRun is happening again on 18th September!On Thursday 18th September with the starting gun of the 11th Luxembourg Times BusinessRun fired at the Coque at 7 pm Share this with instagramShare this with facebookShare this with linkedinSections ArcelorMittal has yet to respond to the fine Matic Zorman/archives The two directors also prosecuted in this case from the Florange site and one of the coking plants The case was brought before the court of Thionville in November 2020 when the public prosecutor's office demanded a "dissuasive" sentence in line with the company's resources The steelmaker was accused of having delayed compliance with the standards of the Environmental Code despite allegedly being aware of the risk ArcelorMittal acknowledged the pollution of 8 March resulting from a clean-up operation of the coking plant it denied any responsibility in the episode of 12 August The firm pleaded for acquittal and argued that the company was undergoing a “continuous improvement process on environmental issues” This point was disputed by the commune of Florange and the Val de Fensch conurbation community which criticised the steelmaker for its inaction in the face of repeated pollution episodes which had given the steelmaker formal notice to bring the coking plant's installations up to standard The court ruled and sentenced the company to a €150,000 fine for “discharging a harmful substance into groundwater” on 12 August 2019 and “operating an installation classified as not complying with a formal notice” over a period from 2 August to 27 November The steelmaker will also have to pay €10,000 in damages to two environmental protection associations (France Nature Environnement and Lorraine Nature Environnement) which filed a civil claim alongside the Florange town hall said he was very satisfied with a judgment that sets an example and gives real credibility to elected officials in demanding results in environmental matters ArcelorMittal employs more than 2,000 people The coking plant at the heart of the controversy This article was originally published on Paperjam.lu in French The H2V company is launching a public consultation for its green hydrogen and e-methanol production project in Thionville an investment of €800m aimed at supporting the decarbonisation of transport from 2030 in the municipalities of Florange and Uckange the company H2V wants to install a green hydrogen and e-methanol production unit The project--estimated to cost €800m--will be the subject of a public consultation starting Monday 28 April is proceeding cautiously with its colossal hydrogen project While it initially announced the creation of a green hydrogen gigafactory due to a lack of industrial outlets for its initial project it aims to produce 30,000 tonnes of green hydrogen from 2030 and 150,000 tonnes of e-methanol to help decarbonise sea and air transport The project is expected to create 140 jobs the project--presented as “an essential link in the hydrogen chain in Moselle”--should prevent the emission of 160 tonnes of CO2 every year the plant will have to be built on former industrial wasteland in Thionville-Illange which has now become the E-Log’in 4 platform straddling the municipalities of Florange and Uckange The site was chosen for its strategic geographical location and proximity to several industrial sites The future plant will be powered by renewable electricity and connected to the grid with the involvement of RTE which will involve creating a 225,000 volt underground link from the site to Saint-Hubert in Uckange and will be classified as Seveso (low threshold) for risk management reasons A hazard study will therefore have to be carried out to identify the related risks and the measures that will have to be taken the scale of the facility and in accordance with France’s environmental code a preliminary consultation is being organised so that civil society can be informed on the subject and give its opinion The consultation begins on Monday 28 April and will last until 20 June the National Commission for Public Debate has appointed two citizens to act as guarantors for the consultation (Nathalie Durand and Jean-François Trassart) whose role will be to ensure the quality and transparency of the information and discussions All citizens have the opportunity to take part ; in the registers made available in the town halls defined as part of the project perimeter (Florange Thionville and Yutz); or during the planned discussion times These will be either public and themed meetings or debates at several venues in the Thionville area public meeting at ArcelorMittal’s Digital Lab in Uckange; debate at the E.Leclerc shopping centre in Fameck; - Thursday 15 May at 6pm at the Thionville-Yutz IUT themed meeting on the project’s contribution to decarbonising transport and the project’s outlets; - Tuesday 20 May at 6pm at Le Diapason village hall in Uckange a themed meeting on environmental issues and industrial risks; - Tuesday 3 June at 6pm in the Salle du Casino in Thionville training and the economic impact of the project; - Wednesday 11 June at 6pm in the Salle Pablo Neruda in Guénange a themed workshop on integrating the project into the local area; - Thursday 19 June at 6pm at the Bétange complex in Florange prior registration on the consultation website is recommended for each discussion time All information relating to the project is published on the  website gave a number of details about works on the new A31 Touvet confirmed that motorists will soon have to pay to travel from Metz to Luxembourg via the motorway and that the route selected for the expansion was indeed variant F4 which will bypass Thionville to the west through a deep tunnel under Florange This will create a new 7.9-kilometre section including the 2.2 km-long tunnel under Florange The tunnel will rejoin the A31 to the west of Thionville at the 'étoile' interchange the A31 will become a three-lane motorway all the way to Luxembourg The entire project is expected to cost between €700 and €900 million The creation of a toll booth will "make it possible to finance the project more quickly" The estimated cost of a Metz-Luxembourg journey is €4 the costs are €2 for the tunnel and €2 for the section north of Thionville Touvet further explained that it will be a free-flow toll meaning no barriers will be installed to avoid additional congestion Number plates will be scanned and payments can be made digitally There might be a season ticket for cross-border commuters with "a reduction of up to 30% of the price" meaning a more expensive fare at peak times The timetable for the works has been unveiled: the public enquiry will begin in 2024 and is scheduled to conclude in 2025 The 'Declaration of Public Utility' is expected in the second half of 2026 The concession is due to be awarded in 2028 with work starting in 2029 and finishing in 2032 two years after completion of the widening of the A3 on the Luxembourg side French authorities want to coordinate with Luxembourg to test a "dedicated carpooling lane" On the section between Thionville and the border in addition to widening the motorway to three lanes in each direction the project thus also includes the construction of a lane reserved for public transport on the hard shoulder The aim is to promote public transport with cross-border coaches ShareSteelmaker ArcelorMittal said on Tuesday it is considering relocating some of its support activities from Europe to India. The company said it is “studying the possibility of continuing to group together certain support activities, by developing our shared services centre to carry out some of these activities in India,” in a written statement sent to AFP, after presenting the initiative at a European Works Council meeting on Tuesday. The European steel industry is facing a number of major challenges that threaten the future of steel production on the continent,” said the group, a few hours after new statements by US President Donald Trump, intensifying the trade war on steel and aluminium. Trump on Monday evening had signed two decrees imposing customs duties of 25% on steel and aluminium, with effect from 12 March. At a time when the European steel industry is already being destabilised by overproduction in China, ArcelorMittal’s European branch “is mobilising to meet these challenges, in particular by focusing on the continued reduction of costs that are not directly linked to steel production,” said the company, which has not put a figure on potential job cuts at this stage. Steel production won’t be movedThe group is currently carrying out “studies to identify the exact scope of activities that could potentially be transferred to the shared services centre,” said a company spokesperson interviewed by AFP. The study includes human resources, financial services, purchasing and procurement, sales and marketing, and order management, the source said, adding that supply chain (including shipping and distribution) and information systems were also being scrutinised. The teams covered by the study “are currently spread across 31 legal entities covering the three European segments (flat products, long products and distribution solutions) in France, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom,” the source concluded. Luxembourg - where ArcelorMittal employs more than 3,360 according to information provided on its website - does not feature on the list given by the spokesperson. “No steel production activities will be moved from Europe to India as part of this initiative,” the group said It is in this context that fears for the Florange site in Moselle, relayed by the leader of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, have emerged in recent hours. At the end of November, ArcelorMittal also announced the closure in spring 2025 of two small plants in Reims (Marne) and Denain (Nord), which employ a total of 135 people, as well as 28 additional job cuts in Valence (Drôme) and Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), prompting fears over other sites, like Florange in the neighbouring Moselle region. Quarterly profitsArcelorMittal sees rosier future as EU and US turn against Chinese dumpingLuxembourg-based steelmaker reports lower quarterly profits but better prospects Job cutsArcelorMittal to cut 600 jobs in FranceUp to 1,400 jobs in western Europe will be relocated to India or Poland Steel industryArcelorMittal South Africa CEO says IDC seeks a bigger stakeCEO declined to say whether the IDC plans to take control of the South African unit or assess whether it will seek other buyers for its assets or the company Steel industrySouth African lender weighs taking control of ArcelorMittal unitIndustrial Development Corp reportedly willing to inject more capital into struggling company in exchange for boosting its holding Steel industryLuxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal under investigation in FranceArcelorMittal is being sued by some 300 local residents and associations for allegedly exposing the population to illegal discharges of pollutants Steel industryArcelorMittal South Africa seeks cash rescue for mills, ST saysCompany initially planned to shutter facilities at the end of January, later postponed, though rescue talks with the government have failed to yield results Battle for talentPremiumLuxembourg companies cutting back on relocation perks, say recruitersDespite generous packages at larger firms and concerns over competitiveness, some employers are trimming benefits such as housing allowances Industry ArcelorMittal South Africa to idle steel units in second quarterThe closure of the long-steel plants will result in the loss of about 3,500 direct and indirect jobs The Luxembourg government has contributed €5.2m of the project’s €17.6m price tag ArcelorMittal’s new super-vacuum in Differdange will enable the company to capture 1.2m cubic metres of dust per hour ArcelorMittal dismantled the dust removal system of its converter in Florange The system is basically brand new: it was only used for a few months in 2011 move and reassemble it at the company’s Differdange site where--in late 2025 or early 2026--it will be able to extract 80% of the dust produced onsite which will be emptied and cleaned; some of it can be recycled The €17.6m project--to which the state will contribute €5.2m--has been a decade in the making It began with identifying and quantifying the sources of emissions leading to several projects: water cannons to control dust sealing depots to capture dust during loading improvements to existing dust removal systems based on measurements taken by ArcelorMittal together with the government’s environment agency “the most coherent and effective actions.” “This substantial investment is a further step towards meeting the expectations of our stakeholders: first and foremost our employees the local residents living near our industrial facilities and the municipalities in which we operate,” says Henri Reding “Our desire is to limit all our impacts in order to be a responsible industry and to do this we are prepared to invest in systems that are not productive but which are beneficial to the communities around us.” It has been translated and edited for Delano "To face economic difficulties in Europe, the Flat Carbon Europe division considers it vital to improve and insure competitivity of its activity at all levels," ArcelorMittal said in a written statement. The company said that during a European work's council meeting held Wednesday in Luxembourg, management of the ArcelorMittal unit presented its guiding objectives on future organisation in regards to support services, which includes administration, human resources, technology and purchasing. ArcelorMittal offered no details on its intentions, adding only that each site in the division would carry out their own detailed analysis. "Worker representatives will be notified in due course on the evolution of this analysis," the company said. But Edouard Martin, of the French CFDT union, called the objective a "hidden layoff plan" which will bring "several thousand job cuts in Europe, including several hundred in France, especially at the Florange site." The CFE-CGC union said between 3,000 and 5,000 jobs could be lost out of the 10,000 support jobs concerned in Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Romania. Hit by the economic crisis, the company has closed several sites in Europe and put others on slowdown, including the plant in Florange just over the border in France between Thionville and Metz.