On the afternoon of 20 February, numerous pedestrians became witnesses to a cruel and horrible crime. As reported by French newspaper Républicain Lorrain a woman "was stabbed in the face and neck by an individual who could have been her former partner." in the middle of the city centre close to the supermarket Match A man in his forties who tried to intervene was also injured The mayor stated that he would pay a visit to the hospital this Friday because he was courageous and tried to protect the woman" the culprit flew the scene and headed towards Nilvange on foot The woman suffered severe injuries to her head and neck Her health status was considered "life-threatening on Thursday evening" First inquiries have revealed that "the attacker knew his victim and could have been her former partner He is subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF)" and has several entries on his criminal record The police are continuing their investigation with the help of footage of the attacker captured by surveillance cameras UK-based company Liberty Steel has acquired French railway track manufacturer Hayange which was previously a part of the British Steel group The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed The acquisition comes after the French Government blocked Hayange’s acquisition by China’s Jingye Group The Jingye Group previously purchased British Steel’s assets in the UK and the Netherlands Hayange annually produces around 300,000t of rail tracks most of which are supplied to French railway company SNCF Liberty Steel has also acquired French steel making plant Ascoval the company is now expected to supply raw materials to Hayange Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis Liberty Steel also plans to invest €65m to strengthen the two businesses Liberty Steel operates as a steel manufacturer and distributor GFG Alliance chairman Sanjeev Gupta said: “We intend to develop Ascoval as a GREENSTEEL hub and to drive Hayange into new markets through strong engagement with European rail operators seeking to make their networks carbon neutral.” British Steel entered compulsory liquidation last May after its owner Greybull Capital failed to procure necessary funding to support its operations Last year, Systra acquired multidisciplinary engineering firm TSP Projects Nominations are now open for the prestigious Railway Technology Excellence Awards - one of the industry's most recognised programmes celebrating innovation This is your chance to showcase your achievements Don't miss the opportunity to be honoured among the best - submit your nomination today Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network Paris reportedly opposes deal that would put Hayange plant in hands of China’s Jingye The government must act fast to prevent the French government from scuppering a deal to save British Steel amid opposition in Paris to a sale that would put a key national asset in Chinese hands The Chinese industrial firm Jingye, run by a former Communist party official, is in the final stages of negotiations to buy British Steel including the Hayange plant in northern France that Paris is opposed to a Chinese firm owning a plant that supplies track to France’s vast rail network French ministers are expected to make a decision in the next two weeks and could veto the sale of Hayange jeopardising the chances of a rescue that appeared to be in sight after more than eight months of abortive attempts to find a buyer Several steel industry sources told the Guardian that British Steel would be a considerably less attractive prospect without the lucrative French arm If the business is carved out of the transaction it is unclear whether Jingye would be willing to proceed with its proposal to pay £50m for British Steel and invest £1.2bn In a letter sent to the steel minister Nadhim Zahawi on Monday and shared with the Guardian, his Labour opposite number said the government must now intervene to secure French approval Furniss said suggestions that France could derail the deal were “deeply concerning given its importance for around 4,000 people employed by British Steel” “The government has claimed that it is committed to the steel sector in the UK Now is the time to put these words into action,” she said She asked Zahawi to explain what contact he has had with French ministers and what plans the government has to convince Paris to approve the sale Furniss also asked for details of the the government’s back-up plan. The Guardian revealed last month that Turkish industrial firm Cengiz Holding has been lined up as a potential white knight buyer should the Jingye plan fail Cengiz has publicly stated that it is on good terms with the French government because British Steel is thought to be losing £1m a day funded by a government indemnity that is due to run out at the end of February Failure to secure a deal would put at risk nearly 4,000 high-value jobs in Scunthorpe mostly in constituencies won by the Conservative party in the general election “We have lost far too many high-value steel plants in the past decade and the thousands of jobs that come with them all while successive Conservative party leaders have talked up their commitment to workers,” said Furniss “The steel sector and those who work in it are right to fear that the government won’t do what’s necessary to defend them.” A spokesperson for the department for business energy and industrial strategy said the Official Receiver there are a number of regulatory steps that need to be taken over the coming weeks before the sale can complete,” he said “The deal with Jingye is very much on track and we expect that the transaction will complete in the coming weeks.” A spokesperson for the French finance ministry declined to comment on the latest thinking in Paris about Hayange which is seen as a strategic national asset because of its importance to the rail network 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 Industry the German Saarstahl Group notified the Autorité de la concurrence of its plan to acquire the steel companies Liberty Ascoval and Liberty Rail Hayange The transaction follows a conciliation procedure opened by the commercial court of Paris for these two companies on 18 March 2021 the Autorité exceptionally granted a derogation (see box) allowing the Saarstahl Group to proceed with the acquisition without waiting for the final clearance decision which has just been issued by the Autorité The Saarstahl Group is one of the leading European manufacturers of steel products it produces semi-finished steel products used in the production of finished products such as rails Liberty Ascoval and Liberty Rail Hayange are the two companies operating the Ascoval steelworks in Saint-Saulve (59) and Hayange (57) The Hayange plant primarily manufactures rails in the category of finished long products used The Ascoval plant specialises in the production of semi-finished carbon steel products used to make finished products Ascoval has historically supplied the Hayange site with semi-finished products for the production of rails The Autorité has cleared the transaction unconditionally The text of the decision will soon be available on the Autorité de la concurrence's website If the effective conclusion of a merger is subject to approval from the Autorité de la concurrence the Autorité may issue a derogation enabling them to finalise part or all of the transaction without waiting for the approval decision in order to allow the business activities to continue the granting of such a derogation is exceptional a derogation may be granted where takeover bids have been submitted for companies in liquidation or in insolvency proceedings the granting of a derogation by the Autorité is without prejudice to the final decision taken at the end of the investigation Germany’s Stahl-Holding-Saar (SHS) Group on Monday confirmed the validation of its purchase offer for the Ascoval and Hayange steel plants by the French courts Faced with the financial difficulties of its parent company GFG Alliance and the bankruptcy of its main creditor Greensill had announced last May its intention to sell the Ascoval (Nord) steel plant and the Hayange railway steel plant in the Moselle department The German steel group made the news official stressing that “this integration is fully in line with our growth and diversification strategy These two plants have a unique position within the SHS Group They allow us to develop new activities and to strengthen our competitiveness in line with our ongoing structural transformation process,” said Karl-Ulrich Köhler Luxembourg steel giant ArcelorMittal was one of the bidding for the Hayange steelworks in France alongside two Italian groups and Spanish steelmaker Sidenor Ascoval is described as one of the most modern steel sites geared towards the production of green steel with the Hayange site specialised in the production of rail steel SHS will pursue its European strategy for a green transition in the transport sector Ascoval and Hayange will have access to new fields of activity thanks to the SHS group's global sales network The deal puts an end to speculation over the future of the sites which employ 270 people in Ascoval and 430 in Hayange Hayange and Saarstahl within the SHS Group “opens up promising prospects” chief operating officer and member of the boards of SHS and Saarstahl the employees of Liberty Steel Dudelange are hoping for a similar outcome with a local or at least regional steel company even if Liberty Steel is experiencing financial difficulties it has not announced any plans to sell the Dudelange site It has been translated and edited for Delano This issue is preventing our website from loading properly. 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LOGIN Downloadable PDFs are a benefit of an FP subscription This article is an Insider exclusive Contact us at [email protected] to learn about upgrade options unlocking the ability to gift this article This article was published more than 8 years ago France — The towers of the ArcelorMittal steel mill loom over the little town of Hayange Few people stopped to chat on a recent winter day — the streets were shrouded in an icy fog — but those who paused summarized life here succinctly: There has been little work since the blast furnaces at the mill were shut down in 2013 “100 percent I am going to vote for Marine Le Pen.” Like much of France’s industrial north and east a town of 15,000 near the border with Luxembourg It has been sending Socialist lawmakers to Parliament for 20 years while Communists and other far-left parties have played an active role in local politics for decades the town booted out its Socialist mayor in favor of a candidate from Le Pen’s National Front (FN) embodies changing local tastes in politics he switched to the FN in 2010 due to his growing concerns about immigration and Islam The town backed Socialist François Hollande by a whisker ahead of Le Pen in the last election but if conversation on the streets is anything to go by she has a good chance of coming out on top here when Hayange votes along with the rest of the country in April is the French equivalent of Donald Trump country that swath of voters in the deindustrializing rust belt who helped give Obama the presidency in 2008 and 2012 and whose votes delivered formerly Democratic states to Trump in 2016 Like Trump, Le Pen has a voter base beyond angry whites in the economically depressed regions that account for most of the 900,000 industrial jobs France has lost over the past 15 years The FN counts the sun-soaked south as its historic stronghold where social conservatives and staunch nationalists returning from colonial-era Algeria have long backed the movement But if Le Pen manages to ride the global populist tide to a shocking win after Brexit and Trump decaying northern industrial towns like Hayange will have helped her get there “The counties that voted for Trump have the same sociological profiles as districts voting for Marine Le Pen — deindustrialized very socially vulnerable,” said Stéphane Wahnich a political analyst who has written two books about the FN leader The only one who’s taking up their cause is Marine Le Pen.” Hayange is nestled in the Moselle Valley along the borders of Luxembourg and Germany and has passed in and out of French hands over the course of its history it has been a consistent symbol of France’s changing industrial fortunes one of the country’s oldest and most powerful industrial dynasties making it a birthplace of French heavy industry the de Wendels spread out across a region rich in iron ore growing into one of Europe’s biggest steelmakers by 1900 Fast-forward another century and the town had become a byword for President Nicolas Sarkozy’s failure to halt industrial collapse was seeking to shutter them as the European steel sector grappled with massive overcapacity and a flood of cheap metal from China and elsewhere The fate of the plant became a focus of that year’s presidential election Then-candidate Hollande descended on the steelworks — briefly casting a spotlight on a corner of the country that had long felt forgotten — and mopped up blue-collar votes with a promise to do better He eventually sealed a deal with ArcelorMittal to avoid 600 layoffs sending some workers home on early retirement or pushing them into other jobs at the huge site which stretches into the neighboring town of Florange the blast furnaces are being kept mothballed for potential use in a future project — but no one in Hayange believes that will happen “It’s finished; they’re out for eternity,” said Engelmann who believes the site should have been nationalized and resold when the market was doing better Engelmann started his career as an official for France’s biggest and most hard-line trade union which he detailed in his 2014 book From Leftism to Patriotism He always believed in a strong role for the state But increasingly he believed the left wasn’t addressing his concerns about immigration and the role of Islam in France The National Front had the answers he was looking for “The politics of Marine Le Pen is the politics of common sense allied with protectionism and a state that protects but also a politics that is clearer and tougher on security and massive immigration,” he said in an interview at the Town Hall a forbidding-looking building in the main square “At the beginning I was worried there’d be skinheads and anti-Semites like the media said,” he said of his early ventures to party meetings “But I saw middle-class French people who were saying ‘We’ve got big problems in France; we’re struggling to pay the bills.’ Shopkeepers struggling to make ends meet.” a few Trotskyist activists could be seen handing out leaflets Hayange’s first postwar mayor was a Communist but the town’s far-left influence has waned in keeping with the decline of a party that up until the 1980s was a major national player with its members even serving as ministers François Mitterand’s election in 1981 as France’s first Socialist president made the mainstream left an electable force — but it sapped much support from the once-popular Communists in the process like other paternalist tycoons of the 19th century shaped Hayange’s culture such that the mines and steelworks dominated all aspects of life The city’s patrons didn’t just provide their workers with employment “You were born in their hospitals; the schools were provided by the Wendels and the church too,” said Marc Olénine a local business consultant who has written a book about Hayange He believes these generous benefits — provided to some extent until the 1980s by employers who wanted their workers healthy but compliant — were largely responsible for the hard-left culture that still lingers today But Wahnich believes the region’s past helps explain why so many locals have found it easy to switch support to the National Front “It’s important to know that the Moselle was annexed by the Germans” during World War II its young men were conscripted into the German army That wasn’t the case in parts of France that were occupied rather than annexed “Fascism is something that’s slightly normalized there,” he said France’s experience with authoritarianism under Nazi occupation is part of what makes the prospect of a National Front government so abhorrent to mainstream voters the psychological experience of the war was different It helped lend an authoritarian bent to the leftism later found in steel families like Engelmann’s From authoritarian left to authoritarian right “it doesn’t take much to tip them over,” he said Others have asked if it’s really so surprising that rust belt voters might flip from the hard left to the National Front given that both carry an anti-elitist message and claim to have the working man’s interests at heart is Le Pen’s timely messaging on immigration and Islam a fading economy has been accompanied by a backlash against newcomers Many locals are of immigrant stock — descended from generations of Italians and others who came to work in the valley’s mines and steelworks since the end of the 19th century But there’s a growing sentiment that more recent arrivals are different and they integrated,” said Georges Dibling an aging rocker selling punk knickknacks at a market stall “Now we’ve seen immigration from beyond Europe and that is causing problems.” Though there are two halal butchers in town But residents like tattoo shop owner Pascal talk of feeling “invaded.” “We have to stop the foreigners coming here Already there’s not much work and what little there is a 57-year-old market trader who is backing Le Pen after a lifetime of voting for the left a plant that employed 13,000 in 1973 has no more than 2,200 workers today Hayange has suffered from its reliance on a single sector “It’s an area marked by its mono-industry,” Olénine says when the de Wendels were building their steel empire cash had poured out of workers’ pockets into shops and bustling cafes that drew people from miles around Today the absence of that cash means the cafes are mostly empty “Before there were businesses in Hayange; there was work right in front of us,” says one unemployed steelworker who declined to give his name He waved in the direction of the blast furnaces Even FN voters in Hayange admit their uncomfortable reliance on their European neighbors But their mayor insists the party could come up with a workaround if Le Pen quit the European Union as threatened Other than commuting to a foreign country or subsisting on government handouts there is relatively little to do for work in Hayange Wahnich says the famously strong French safety net has had the perverse effect of feeding populist anger because it has served as a constant reminder of how little improvement there has been in people’s prospects “The archetypal miner is now 60 and has been laid off for 15 years or they stay and are less well paid than their parents.” Hayange is no exception: Many of those left at the steel plant are on short-term contracts and live in constant fear of losing their jobs and then they throw us away,” said the unemployed steelworker The 45-year-old is at a loose end after finishing up an 18-month stint at the plant and family commitments leave him unable to leave the region All he can do is hope there’ll be more need for him next year Neither of her opponents have much appeal to voters in places like Hayange has made clear he wants to slash corporate taxes and ax a half million public sector jobs Macron has cast himself as pro-EU and business-friendly and has suggested tax cuts for the wealthy the quirks of the Electoral College gave outsized influence to Trump voters in rural and rustbelt states the anger of people in places like Hayange will propel Le Pen to the presidency only if they represent more than 50 percent of the voting public Wahnich and most others believe they are unlikely to see a Le Pen victory not least because France’s last experience with authoritarian leadership was within living memory “When faced with a right-wing populist candidate it doesn’t have the same resonance for an American as it does for a French person the authoritarianism of the past might lend itself to a political culture comfortable with the National Front the anger on the streets of Hayange — against useless politicians the ravages of borderless trade — can be felt far beyond this town Le Pen billed herself as the “candidate of the forgotten” as long ago as the last election in 2012 it feels like the time of the forgotten might finally have come around Photo credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images FP’s flagship evening newsletter guiding you through the most important world stories of the day Specialty rates for students and faculty. Lock in your rates for longer. Unlock powerful intelligence for your team. By 2011-10-15T04:00:00+01:00 UK: SilentTrack noise dampers are to be installed at London Blackfriars station under the Thameslink Programme to mitigate the acoustic effects of running up to 24 trains/h along the core north-south cross-city route from 2018 Already installed by DB Netz on its main lines through the Rhein valley and on .. SOUTH AFRICA: Steelmaker Corus announced on October 1 that it had won a €16·5m contract to supply the 20 000 tonnes of rail needed for the Gautrain project in South Africa The first rails will be produced at the Corus steel works at Hayange in France this month WORK is underway on a £130m project to build a mill at the Scunthorpe site of steelmaker Corus The company’s existing 40m mill at Workington will close in July with production at Scunthorpe underway by the end of 2006.Existing Medium Section Mill buildings .. Site powered by Webvision Cloud This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page 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 By 2023-08-29T04:00:00 UK: To help assess whether ‘green’ track renewals could be a viable option Network Rail has ordered a trial batch of rails manufactured by Saarstahl using an electric arc furnace Already have an account? LOG IN You’ve reached your limit of content for the month Register for free now Chinese firm says it is happy to go ahead with sale despite delay in decision on Hayange The Chinese firm buying British Steel promised “a new chapter in British steelmaking” as it edged towards the rescue of a company that has been funded by the government since it plunged into insolvency 10 months ago Jingye, run by a former Communist party official, expects to complete the takeover next week despite lingering uncertainty over whether France will permit the sale of one of British Steel’s most profitable assets Jingye will pay approximately £70m and has agreed to invest £1.2bn to revive the business whose £1m-a-day losses have been supported by a government indemnity since last May About 3,200 staff have been offered contracts while 400 learned this week that they will be made redundant if the sale closes as expected on Monday The sale secures the immediate future of the Scunthorpe steelworks one of the last two blast furnace operations in the UK steel industry Jingye was founded 30 years ago by Li Ganpo, a former Communist party official who built the group from scratch in a corner of the Hebei province famed for the role it played in the establishment of the People’s Republic of China The business secretary, Alok Sharma, said: “Jingye has reached a significant milestone in securing a deal for the future of British Steel Work continues towards completing the sale which will give certainty to British Steel’s dedicated and talented workforce in Scunthorpe said: “These steelworks have existed for around 150 years and we are excited about what we can collectively achieve at British Steel to build a successful future for many years to come.” The Chinese firm said it was happy to go ahead with the purchase of British Steel’s UK and Dutch assets while waiting for the French government to decide whether it will approve the sale of Hayange is seen as a strategic national asset because it supplies track for the country’s railways While Jingye plans to make 400 staff redundant the general secretary of the steelworkers union Community said he still hoped more staff could be transferred to the new company He also called for further intervention to support the struggling steel industry “The government took the right approach to support the company through liquidation but it still has a role to play in ensuring a level playing field for the UK industry to compete in a global market,” Rickhuss said “We will continue to call for further action on energy costs so that British Steel and other steel producers have the best chance of success.” By 2012-07-31T04:00:00 FRANCE: Tata Steel is to more than double annual production of heat-treated rail at its Hayange mill from 55 000 to 120 000 tonnes under a €12m investment plan announced on July 25 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 Liberty Steel is looking to sell its Hayange site Liberty Steel is reeling from the collapse of its main financial backer and is putting up for sale several sites to pay off creditors located less than 30km from Luxembourg’s border It specialises in steel used in rail transport and Spanish steelmaker Sidenor are reportedly among the bidders The plant is expected to change hands in July The future of Liberty Steel’s Luxembourg operation in Dudelange remains unclear Production has been reduced and labour unions LCGB and OGBL are planning a protest on 4 June The Dudelange site is paired with a furnace in Liège where Liberty Steel in May was granted temporary protection from creditors while it seeks new sources of funding This story was first published in French on Paperjam It has been translated and edited for Delano 10 minutes from Luxembourg borderJust why did the French town of Hayange with a once thriving ArcelorMittal steel industry swing to the far-right and vote in an FN mayor?13/05/2014Share(AFP/ADW) Marie da Silva makes an unlikely poster girl for France's far-right National Front (FN) The daughter of an Italian immigrant and the wife of a worker with Portuguese roots the new deputy mayor of the town of Hayange just 10 minutes from the Luxembourg border was until recently an active member of the CGT trade union grouping But things are no longer as they once were in the country's northeastern steel belt where the contraction of a once mighty industry has combined with an equally painful sense of betrayal by successive governments to help transform former bastions of the left into fertile ground for the anti-immigration Polls suggest the party led by Marine Le Pen could emerge from the upcoming European elections as France's leading party One recent survey put backing for the FN in eastern France at 26 percent of the overall electorate and at 55 percent amongst industrial workers Da Silva's personal journey towards the FN's embrace is typical of many in a town of 15,000 people that recently became the first in the region to elect an FN mayor "My father would never have believed it," says local resident Yvette Never," she adds with a shake of the head she means before last year's closure by ArcelorMittal of the last surviving blast furnace in the area one that President Francois Hollande had explicitly pledged to keep open during his 2012 election campaign Hollande's predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy had made a similar pledge about another nearby furnace in 2008 "That left a bitter taste but what Hollande did was worse," says Jean one of the dwindling band of ArcelorMittal employees still in work Hayange is the principal town in the Fensh valley close the Luxembourg border which was once home to no fewer than 35 furnaces and which "We built Europe here before anywhere else," recalls Yvette People would come from Luxembourg for shopping." there are no signs of visitors from the nearby Grand Duchy With an unemployment rate above 15 percent boarded-up shop fronts in the town centre testify to how Hayange struggles to support its surviving businesses Nearly two in three residents do not earn enough to be liable for income tax emphasises that the party has been establishing roots amongst the area's industrial working class for some time "What is new is that voters on the left particularly amongst those with connections to the steel industry are coming over to us -- and they are coming over in droves," he explained Gourlot attributes much of the trend to the work Marine Le Pen has done in disassociating the party from the legacy of its founder As well as being widely regarded as a racist Le Pen senior also advocated a brand of free-market economic liberalism that someone like new Hayange Mayor Engelmann could never previously have endorsed says he made the switch to the FN to help defend "France's Judeo-Christian values in the face of a Muslim offensive," and out of anger at town hall resources being put at the disposal of "so-called political refugees." "People round here say 'nobody does anything for us and they (asylum seekers) are housed for free it's like we have established a policy of foreigners first." That kind of populist outburst does not seem to sit easily with his deputy da Silva everyone does not necessarily have the same ideas about everything But when you have a big cake it is easier to share it out When all you are left with is a very small cake then you can't share with everyone." Not everyone in Hayange agrees with that logic however "The FN has no programme," says Gilles Wobedo "They are like an opportunist virus -- infecting an area whose immunity has been depressed and weakened." Don't miss out on the news – sign up to receive the wort.lu newsletter in English delivered to your inbox six days a week. PoliticsHow much do Luxembourg ministers really earn?In addition to basic salary, ministers are entitled to monthly allowances of up to €8,000 and end-of-year bonuses EvacuationWeapon used in Kirchberg scare was fakeMan armed with fake gun caused commotion at bank branch on Monday Schengen AreaLuxembourg hopes for dialogue with Germany over border checksTens of thousands of people commute to work in Luxembourg every day Job searchBeen job-hunting unsuccessfully for more than six months? If you’ve had several months of rejection letters or never made it beyond first interviews, here’s what you might be doing wrong Financial scandalSpuerkeess rejects blame in Caritas embezzlement case Representatives tell parliament that the bank followed all internal procedures with its client PoliticsGermany in political chaos after Merz loses chancellor voteMerz fell short with 310 votes out of the required 316 Skin healthThe hype surrounding skincare routines“Seven steps to perfect skin” - skincare is a popular social media topic. But what really works? BrexitPremiumEU set to make it easier for UK professionals to work in the blocBrussels due to propose legislation to enable the recognition of qualifications of British lawyers and others Advertiser contentTreat yourself to a stress-free holidayDreaming of a worry-free trip What if the secret to a smooth getaway was simply good preparation and the right protection Advertiser contentReal estate: Why should you take advantage of the start of 2025 to begin your real estate project?The main things we 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 Roland Junck is indeed a man of steel, beginning his career in Luxembourg with Arbed in 2006 as an engineer, and briefly becoming CEO when the ArcelorMittal merger occurred forming the world's biggest steel group. He then moved on to become CEO of the nickel producer Nyrstar. Junck was also an advisor to Greybull before they purchased the Hayange plant. He now faces the task of developing a business model for emerging enterprises which will be a short-term role “until business are running”, Junck explained, and a general manager is found. He forecasts this task to take between six and twelve months. The Luxembourger will be part of the board of directors but not in an operational role. The biggest challenge facing Junck is the creation of a separate company from what was previously only a division of Tata Steel and therefore currently has no investment or strategy. Steel beams produced by British Steel are in fact in direct competition with the Luxembourg sites of ArcelorMittal. And since June a new spanner has been thrown into the works--the problem of Brexit! "The referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union does not make things easier, but perhaps more interesting," stated Roland Junck. Tata Steel’s Long Products Europe business (soon to be British Steel) will continue to supply French rail operator SNCF for at least five more years after a new deal was signed has supplied the French network for more than 130 years being SNCF’s main rail supplier since 1999 the contract renewal will see that continue for the next five years with an extension option for a further four years The company will supply the bulk of SNCF’s 750,000 tonne requirements of high-quality rail over the duration of the renewed contract in lengths of up to 108 metres from its Hayange facility said: "This contract will provide a valuable foundation for our future order book and keeps SNCF at the very heart of our focus for delivering customer satisfaction in terms of quality products and services.” The Hayange rolling mill is supplied with steel from British Steel’s steelworks in Scunthorpe The contract re-signing follows a €35 million investment by Tata Steel in 2011 which allowed the Hayange mill to produce 108m lengths of rail that SNCF will use throughout France’s standard and high-speed networks Gérard added: “This contract win has been made possible by our continued drive to be more customer focused by learning from them and by developing the products and services they need we have shown the benefits close working relationships like this can bring.” said: "This contract provides visibility to our industrial partners We wanted to develop this type of long-term contract for three reasons: to increase our rail capacity to cope with an unprecedented workload to renovate the existing network to improve our manufacturing efficiency by providing additional scope for innovation and finally to challenge our processes to enable continuous improvement." Hayange is one of the most technically advanced rail mills in the world producing a broad range of products including world leading heat-treated grades designed to cope with high-traffic and heavy freight traffic As well as long length and heat-treated rail Hayange will supply Sogenox® - an innovative type of rail which enables the train’s location to be communicated through the track using electrical signals Sogenox rail ensures those signals can be transmitted in even low traffic areas when normal rail can become oxidised which disrupts electrical connections ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s biggest steel producers, is among a number of companies poised to swoop for the French steel plants of beleaguered metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta. German steel producer Saarstahl and Italy’s Beltrame Group are also in the running to buy Gupta’s French plants Ascoval and Hayange, sources familiar with the situation confirmed. ArcelorMittal declined to comment. Saarstahl and Beltrame could not be reached for comment. The Financial Times revealed earlier this month that Gupta’s Liberty Steel, the steel division of his metals conglomerate GFG Alliance, had put the two plants in north-eastern France up for sale after failing to refinance them. Liberty Steel only bought the Hayange mill last August after its previous operator British Steel collapsed into insolvency. Ascoval was formerly controlled by Greybull Capital, the private investment company that owned the UK steelmaker, and was bought by Liberty at the same time. GFG has been scrambling to find new sources of finance since its main lender Greensill Capital collapsed into administration in March. The group has also been hit by suspicions of fraud, which the Serious Fraud Office is investigating. The sale of the two French plants is being closely watched by the government. Hayange, near the German border, is considered a strategic national asset because it makes steel rails for France’s railways and the Paris metro. Ascoval operates an electric arc furnace for recycling scrap. The French government in March provided a €20m loan to the two plants. It has said it is willing to support the workers and sites hit by the troubles at GFG, but will not bail out shareholders. The loans were given under the condition that the company would be able to raise fresh financing. The formal sales process was begun at the end of April, according to one person familiar with the situation. Rothschild is advising on the sale. GFG said it remained “confident” of securing new financing, given the strength of the steel market, despite the two sites facing a “significant reduction in working capital support” since Greensill’s collapse. “At the same time, we are taking prudent steps to explore sale options for these businesses and will be inviting interested parties to submit offers,” the company added. GFG is also selling three UK speciality steel plants, including its operations at Stocksbridge in Yorkshire, as it seeks to stave off a wider collapse. Sources familiar with the situation said that a number of potential interested parties had come forward in recent days. GFG has been trying to refinance its British operations but talks with White Oak Global Advisors, a US-based private finance group, faltered after news of the SFO probe broke. GFG has said it will co-operate with the investigation. Jingye Group, the Chinese owner of British Steel, has told government officials it is willing to step in to take on parts of Liberty Steel. The company, however, is understood to be specifically interested in Liberty’s steelworks at Rotherham, which GFG has said is not for sale. © The Financial Times Limited 2021. All Rights Reserved. FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way ShareResults from Sunday’s first round of the French legislative elections were a tour de force for Rassemblement National and its allies, who came out well ahead with 33.2%, a historic score that could open the doors of power to the far right for the first time. Some seat projections for the future French National Assembly envisage a strong relative majority for the RN and its allies – or even an absolute majority – in the second round next Sunday. This box contains embedded content from Facebook that wants to read or write cookies. You did not give permission for this. In Thionville West, which includes the communes of Hayange and Florange, Laurent Jacobelli (RN) received 46.36% of the vote, falling short of an outright victory in the first round. He will now face Céline Leger (NFP) on Sunday. She received 28.98% of the vote. In Meurthe-et-Moselle, in the constituency which includes Longwy and Mont-Saint-Martin, Frédéric Weber (RN), a first-time candidate, won the most votes with 43.46%. He will face incumbent Martine Etienne (NFP) in the second round. Etienne received 28.49%. Valérie Maurice (Majorité présidentielle), with 17.98% of the vote, is eliminated. In Moselle, the RN came out on top in the first three constituencies, those of Metz and its suburbs. In the first, Grégoire Laloux won the most votes with 39.81%. Next Sunday, he will face incumbent MP Belkhir Belhaddad (Ensemble, 27.59%). Vincent Félix (NFP), who came third with 26.10% of the vote, is expected to withdraw. In the second constituency, Marie-Claude Voincon (RN) came first with 37.48% of the vote. Outgoing MP Ludovic Mendes (Ensemble) followed with 30.22%. NFP candidate Victorien Nicolas (26.61%) withdrew and called for a vote for Mendes. The electoral battle was very close in the third constituency. Victor Chomard (RN) came out on top with 35.32% of the vote. He was trailed by Nathalie Colin-Oesterlé (UDI), who won 34.66% of the vote. Outgoing MP Charlotte Leduc (NFP), who also qualified for the second round with 28.27%, is expected to withdraw if she follows Jean-Luc Mélenchon's call for a barrage against the RN in the second round. In the constituencies of Saint-Avold and Forbach, the outgoing RN MPs Alexandre Loubet and Kévin Pfeffer were re-elected in the first round. Both were elected for the first time in 2022. In the constituencies of Sarreguemines and Sarrebourg, the RN candidates are ahead of the outgoing LR members of parliament, and in both cases it will be a duel in the second round. In the first two constituencies of Meurthe-et-Moselle, two NFP candidates came out on top: Estelle Mercier, with 37.63% of the vote, and Stéphane Hablot with 39.91%. They will both face RN and Ensemble candidates in the second round. In the fourth constituency, Dominique Bilde (RN) came out on top with 43.7% of the vote. Le Républicain Lorrain newspaper is projecting a possible three-way run-off. Incumbent MP Thibault Bazin (LR) qualified with 33.21%. Barbara Bertozzi-Bievelot (NFP) qualified with 20.59%. Incumbent Dominique Potier (NFP) came out on top in the fifth constituency with 43.47% of the vote. On Sunday, he will face Louis-Joseph Pecher (far right), who received 30.45%. The other candidates did not qualify. Anthony Boulogne (RN) came first in the sixth constituency with 44.53% of the vote. He will face the outgoing La France insoumise MP Caroline Fiat (NFP) on Sunday. In Meuse, Maxime Amblard (RN) came out on top in the first constituency with 47.95% of the vote. In the second constituency, outgoing MP Florence Goulet (RN) won an absolute majority. Finally, in the Vosges, the RN came out on top in two constituencies, while two Divers droite candidates came out on top in the other two. The RN will be in the second round in all four Vosges constituencies. (This article originally appeared on virgule.lu. Translation and editing by Alex Stevensson.) ElectionsRomanian far-right leader scores first-round election winDissatisfaction with ruling establishment due to corruption and poverty evident in election results Reception of refugeesAnalysisUkrainian refugees feel limits of Luxembourg reception systemWithout housing or employment, some refugees are being sent back to the reception centre where they first arrived in 2022 Australian electionsAustralia’s PM Albanese Is Re-Elected With Expanded MajorityAlbanese will enter his second term as a Labor hero after leading his party to successive election victories British politicsNigel Farage’s Reform upends UK politics with election surgeReform has won 465 local council seats in UK local elections German politicsGerman AfD party categorised as extremist by security agencyauthorities will now have enhanced powers to monitor the party as a potential threat to democracy Employment regulationsSunday work is increasingly common in LuxembourgData unveiled as conflict between government and trade unions, including on Sunday working rules, heats up In parliamentPremiumParliament quizzes Bettel on Rwanda NGO Foreign minister defended his ties to the organization in wake of questions about delay of EU sanctions mayor of Hayange (Moselle) since 2014 and regional councillor of the Grand Est since 2016 appeared before the court in Luxembourg to face charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and for refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test The councillor was arrested by the police in Luxembourg City in January more precisely between the Gluck roundabout and the Albert Bousser tunnel A police officer who was on duty that night reported that they had noticed a car zigzagging causing the police to turn on their flashing lights The car then stopped after exiting the tunnel The driver had a strong smell of alcohol and seemed to have great difficulty standing He reportedly acted rudely and demanded that they should look for the real criminals He had to try eight times to blow into the breathalyser before he got a result: 1.2 grams When Engelmann was told they had to go to the police station to carry out a second alcohol test although the police had explained that a refusal would result in a driving ban Engelmann then attempted to get out of the blood alcohol test he often had contact with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and that the police would have to deal the consequences The incident lasted over 30 minutes and the accused acted as if he were someone superior and the passenger who accompanied him on the night of the incident arguedthe Luxembourg police behaved badly claiming Englemann was subjected to shocking behaviour by the police These accusations were refuted by the police officer who spoke of lies and described the accusation of intimidation as foolishness Contacted on Friday by the Républicain Lorrain Fabien Engelmann confirmed that he had indeed refused the breathalyser and that the breathalyser read 0.58g - "just one glass too many" The elected representative offered another version of his exchanges with the Luxembourg police On his way home from a birthday party on the night in question Engelmann said he had encountered a policeman behaving like a "cowboy" He also claimed he never boasted that he was the mayor of Hayange or mentioned his alleged contacts in the government he had opened the car boot to get his papers and that is when the officers saw his campaign posters He had calmly said that the Prime Minister would not be too happy to know how the police officers behaved The representative of the public prosecutor's office requested a fine and a three-year driving ban This decision was taken by mayor Claude Haagen and Diekirch's deputy mayor after the French town fell under the rule of France's far-right party “Front National”. The final agreement, however, will only be decided once presented to the local council for approval. As a result of local elections in France, the commune of Hayange has swung to the right with Fabien Engelmann of the FN taking control. The Belgian town of Arlon, also twinned with Hayange has already announced it will put its partnership and “friendship” ties with the town of 16,000 inhabitants on ice. Hayange is also twinned with Bitburg in Germany and the Italian town of Barga. However no word has surfaced from these towns as to whether they will follow the lead of Belgium and Luxembourg. In what form will the partnership temination be carried out? That's the question Mayor Claude Haagen is examining while keeping an eye on Arlon and the moves of its mayor Vincent Magnus. Don't miss out on the news – sign up to receive the wort.lu newsletter in English delivered to your inbox six days a week. The Lorraine-Alsace emergency services were called around 2.15am on Sunday morning after two vehicles collided on the A30 According to the officer in charge of the investigation it seems that a driver lost control of their vehicle and crashed into the barrier before stopping A second car then struck the crashed vehicle Both drivers were taken to hospital in Thionville The passenger in the other car was transported in serious condition to the hospital in Metz The A30 motorway was closed near Nilvange and did not reopen until around 5am on Sunday morning Algrange and Terville were on site as well as the Direst.