“ArcelorMittal, one more drop of water in the ocean of bad news that threatens French industry”

Et now ArcelorMittal. The steelmaker announced on Tuesday, November 19, that it was studying the closure of two centers in its services branch, located in Reims (Marne) and Denain (North). In total, according to the unions, nearly 130 jobs would be threatened. One more drop of water in the ocean of bad news that threatens French industry and its jobs: Michelin, Valeo, the chemist Vencorex, the oil company Exxon…

The map of France of closures published Wednesday November 20 by Les Echos is dizzying with its diversity: slaughterhouses, plumbing, paper, metallurgy and, of course, automobiles. This inventory highlights the multiple causes of this boom, which combines sectoral crises, such as in construction and automobiles, and delayed effects after the end of aid linked to the Covid-19 pandemic period. Without forgetting the price of energy, which undermines the competitiveness of European companies, especially industrial ones.

As always, we are calling on the public authorities to save the furniture. A strategy that is not historically effective and which will be even less so as current budgetary constraints push the State towards more savings than generosity. The government will try to intervene at the European level, at least for the automobile industry, which is struggling across the continent. For the rest, French fragility is not new, but it is highlighted by the economic downturn due largely to the energy crisis.

Alarmist reports

Contrary to what politicians regularly claim, the fate of the industry has been a source of concern and agitation for almost twenty years. In a detailed September note for the French Observatory of Economic Conditions, economist Sarah Guillou lists alarmist reports on the country's necessary industrial and technological surge. There are nearly ten of them, since that of the former CEO of Saint-Gobain, Jean-Louis Beffa, in 2005.

Each time, they recommend an effort towards SMEs, encouragement of the financing of innovation, public research closer to the private sector, and suggest new mechanisms, funds and other ambitious plans. Ultimately, concludes Sarah Guillou, only two sectors have really benefited from this mobilization in the long term: defense and nuclear power. Because they are well targeted, transpartisan and dependent on public procurement. For the rest, industrial Colbertism has been buried for a long time.