The placement of Ascometal in receivership causes a “shock wave”, deplores the CFDT in Hagondange

“A shock wave spread across all sites” after the placement of the Ascometal group in receivership, reports Thursday March 28 at the microphone of France Bleu Lorraine Nord Alain Hilbold, CFDT delegate at Ascometal Hagondange (Moselle). The procedure was pronounced on Wednesday at the commercial chamber of the Strasbourg judicial court.

This decision comes after the failure of its plan to sell three of its production sites and its research center to the Italian group Acciairie Venete. The Italian steelmaker has also made it known through a press release that it is not responsible for this failure and ensures that this decision “comes from the inability of Ascometal France Holding to satisfy alone the conditions necessary for the sale”.

Only three months of cash left to last

After the announcement of the judicial recovery, “anxiety and anguish” are felt among employees, describes Alain Hilbold. The union representative on the Moselle site wonders about the future of Ascometal. The astonishment is all the greater for the employees as this is the third time in ten years that the steel group has been the subject of such a procedure. “We went through judicial recovery in 2014, we did it again in 2017, and today, seven years later, we find ourselves back at square one”deplores Alain Hilbold.

The CFDT delegate in Hagondange recalls that without “potential buyer”, the situation “start from scratch”. But he assures that the unions will “continue to work as best we can via our networks, with our general management, so that we find a potential buyer who will be able to save the situation”. Alain Hilbold ensures that “time is running out” pfor Ascometal employees, because “the level of cash flow will allow the activity to last for another three months”. “Beyond that, it’s waiting, we don’t know”he laments.