Minimal recovery was accompanied by serious social damage. Only failed steelmaker NovAsco (formerly Ascometal)’s Dunkirk plant will be taken over by Métal Blanc, with three other sites slated for liquidation, the commercial chamber of the Strasbourg judicial court decided on Monday, November 17.
Since Wednesday, employees have known that it was all over: the preferred offer, submitted by the consortium of investors gathered around Julien Baillon, at the head of Ardennes SME Métal Blanc, concerned only the acquisition of the Lefrinckoucke factory, near Dunkirk, one of the Central Works Council’s lawyers, Laurent Paté, said on Wednesday after a closed hearing.
Three other sites in Saint-Etienne, Custines (Meurthe-et-Moselle) and Hagondange (Moselle) will be liquidated. Of the current workforce of 693 employees, only 144 employees at Lefrinckoucke will keep their jobs, according to Yann Amadoro, CGT union delegate.
A rally is planned for Monday at the Moselle steel plant in Hagondange, the group’s largest plant with 441 employees, “to discuss and vote on actions”according to Mr. Amadoro.
Another candidate, French businessman Europlasm, proposed taking over all NovAsco sites, but would have to endure massive layoffs in Hagondange, where only 75 jobs could be saved out of 441 jobs. “presented weakness”according to Me Dough.
Hours before the announcement of the court decision, the government announced it would take legal action against British Greybull, the buyer. “kill” responsible for the critical situation at the NovAsco steel plant. The delegate minister responsible for industry, Sébastien Martin, stated that he would do so “go to court” against the Greybull investment fund which took over the metallurgical company in 2024 and did not keep its commitments.
Four legal adjustments
NovAsco, which produces specialty steel, particularly for the automotive sector, is now in its fourth receivership since 2014. Its decline is not unique to Europe, where the steel industry is doubling down on layoff plans, suffering in part from competition in China, high energy costs and difficulties facing automakers and large consumers of steel.
This epilogue was especially painful for the metal workers at the Moselle factory and its entire department, which was already affected by deindustrialization. On Friday, almost 200 of them mobilized at the site, burning tires before launching a slug operation on the A31 between Metz and Luxembourg. A yellow and red cross is mounted on the wall of NovAsco in Hagondange, with a sign where we areI can read “Thieves”, “Liars” or “What the State is doing”.
Employees are fighting for better departure conditions. Any – tenuous – hopes of nationalization were dashed after the union’s meeting with Industry Minister Sébastien Martin on Thursday. “The minister recalled that he had been in contact with shareholders”gray bull, “and reiterated his desire that the site not be demolished and, if it were to be liquidated, remain ready to accommodate an industrial site quickly”said the people around him.
But staff representatives have no illusions about the possible financial contribution of this investment fund, which has yet to meet the commitments made during the group’s takeover in 2024. Greybull has only injected 1.5 million of the 90 million euros promised, while the State has generally met its commitment to invest 85 million, according to the union.
“I estimate he owes employees, the residents of Hagondange and the entire region 88.5 million euros”underlined Sébastien Martin on Monday, announcing that he would “take whatever action is expedient at both civil and criminal levels to challenge responsibility” by Greybull.
