From one symbol of industrial sovereignty to another. After taking over Les Forges de Tarbes in 2021, the last French manufacturer of hollow bodies for 155 millimeter shells (those of the Caesar cannon), the Europlasma group, on February 28, officially applied to take over the last French manufacturer of Valdunes railway wheels and axles, located in the North, with state support. The Lille commercial court is due to deliver its decision on Wednesday March 20.
Europlasma being the only candidate, its offer, after months without prospects for the company in receivership and its 309 employees, was received with relief in the North and by the Ministry of Industry, despite the 131 job cuts announced. “Without public effort, no one would have taken over this company, but, to be able to help, the State needs to have a private actor who believes in the project and who is ready to put in the money,” we specify to the Ministry of Industry.
Europlasma has committed to investing 15 million euros over three years – and the State to lend it up to 15 million euros – to continue manufacturing wheels (but no longer axles), promising, in the medium term Ultimately, to do so in a carbon-free way through the construction of an energy production unit based on recovered solid fuels and a solar farm.
“The industrial tool urgently requires investments”
An ambitious project for a fragile group. Specializing in the treatment and the recovery of hazardous waste, it narrowly escaped liquidation in 2019, like its subsidiary Inertam in Morcenx (Landes), and has since only taken over companies in difficulty (Les Forges de Tarbes, Les Forges de Gerzat [ex-Luxfer]in Clermont-Ferrand, or Satma Industries, in Isère).
From Tarbes, it is with circumspection that the employees of Les Forges see Europlasma playing the role of savior. They who, for months, have not stopped warning about the situation of their factory, through walkouts, letters to the prefect and the minister, in the press, and even to the National Assembly, thanks to the relay of deputies (LFI) Sylvie Ferrer (Hautes-Pyrénées) and Aurélien Saintoul (Hauts-de-Seine). “The industrial tool urgently requires investments, and we question the financial capacity of the Europlasma group to ensure this upgrading effort”, wrote again, on March 11, the social and economic committee (CSE) of the factory in a letter to Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces.
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