While France is trying to save a “nickel pact” from getting bogged down, a recovery plan for a sector in crisis on the archipelago, Mr. Gallezot, whose mission depends on Matignon, sees it as a proposal “of a nature to help consolidate this industry, to help it evolve”. “It is an important subject for the economy of New Caledonia, but it is also an important subject for France and Europe,” he declared during a meeting with the Association of Economic and Financial Journalists (Ajef).
The elected representatives of the Congress of the archipelago recorded on April 18 the creation of a commission to renegotiate the “nickel pact”, despite the call from the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire to sign it “as is”.
Recalling that the New Caledonian nickel industry is currently mainly focused on metallurgical nickel and towards Asia, Mr. Gallezot underlined the government’s strategy, via this pact, which ultimately aims to “gradually reorient” this industry “towards the supply of Europe and in particular for the battery sector”.
The sector is in crisis and the three metallurgical factories in the Caledonian archipelago, of which nickel is the main resource, are recording record losses.
The “nickel pact” presented by Bercy, although it includes several hundred million euros in state subsidies, also requires significant financial support from the Caledonian community with its blighted finances, as well as tax measures and tax reforms. mining code.
It notably includes state subsidies for energy prices of up to 200 million euros per year and other aid to modernize and decarbonize Caledonian electricity production. “It’s an effort by the State, but it’s also an effort by the territory”indicated Mr. Gallezot, who stressed that “the State has done a lot to support these various factories in recent years, in any case to ensure that they can continue.”
With AFP
