Lakshmi Mittal, French govt strike deal over disputed Florange unit

December 1, 2012

Mittal

Paris, December 1: Steel giant ArcelorMittal and the French government have reached an agreement on the persisting deadlock over the company's plans to shut down two furnaces in Florange and the government's nationalisation plan of the site.

French Prime Minister Bernard Ayrault announced on Friday night that the government had shelved its nationalisation plan. In return, ArcelorMittal chief Lakshmi Mittal has promised to invest 180 million euros at the Florange site over the next five years and agreed to retain the 629 workers.

"Since its installation, this government has worked without respite so that the industrial site in Florange continues to survive and develop and to make sure that the workers are protected. The government had three aims - no layoffs, significant investment in the site and the maintenance of the furnaces of Florange to prepare for a future industrial project, ULCOS," Mr Ayrault said in Paris.


"ArcelorMittal have accepted the stated conditions. Tonight I can announce there will be no layoffs at Florange. The Mittal group has committed to investing at least 180 million euros in Florange over the next five years," he said.

ArcelorMittal wanted to shut down two furnaces of the site that were not profitable, triggering a huge controversy in France. France's Industrial Recovery Minister Arnaud Montebourg had threatened to nationalise the site until a new buyer was found. He also accused Mr Mittal of lying, saying he does not respect France and should therefore leave the country.

Mr Mittal gave in to the pressure that was building up before the Friday night deadline for closure. The French government wanted to find a buyer for the Florange site but said ArcelorMittal would have to give up the entire site, including the profitable part and not just the two furnaces they wanted to shut down.

Finally, a compromise was reached between ArcelorMittal and the French governement. This will be seen as a political triumph for President Francois Hollande, who had promised to save the workers' jobs. This is perhaps not a big loss for Mr Mittal, given that two thirds of his European business is based in France. Much of it is also profitable due to its proximity to the German auto industry.

"In France people tend to believe that the point of view of the state has to prevail against private interest. We are in a country where we have a statist culture. The other problem is that Mr Mittal made a lot of promises when he bought Arcelor. One of them was that he would make European management in charge of European interests and he didn't stick to his promise," said French economist Elie Cohen.

The workers at Florange, however, are not celebrating. They say they do not trust Mr Mittal's plan and are disappointed that there will be no nationalisation of the site. This despite assurances from Mr Mittal that 180 million euros will be invested and no jobs will be lost.

The sites ArcelorMittal have shutdown in Belgium and France so far were part of the group's strategy to tackle losses from over-capacity and low demand in the European steel industry. However, ArcelorMittal are likely to see this as an investment to boost its image in France.



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News Network
May 20,2020

Washington, May 20: Once dubbed as historic by him, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he now feels ‘differently’ about the trade deal he signed with China earlier this year.

He said this while once again venting out his frustration with the Beijing leadership, accusing it of letting coronavirus spread.

Till Tuesday, over 92,000 Americans have died and 1.5 million tested positive for coronavirus that has globally killed around 320,000 people.

The US and China had signed a deal in January to end their 22-month-long trade war during which the two countries slapped tit-for-tat tariff hikes on products worth nearly half a trillion USD.

Under it, Beijing agreed to increase its purchase of US goods by USD 200 billion in 2020-2021.

“I feel differently now about that deal than I did three months ago,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

“We will see what all happens, but it's been a very disappointing situation. A very disappointing thing happened with China because the plague flowed in and that wasn't supposed to happen and it could have been stopped," he said.

Trump said he was very excited when the trade deal with China was signed.

“But once the virus came in, once the plague, as I called it, came in, I said how did they let that happen? And how come it didn't go into other sections of China? Why did they block it from leaving Wuhan? But they didn't block it from going to the rest of the world, including the United States. Why is that? Beijing doesn't have it. Other places don't have it,” he said.

Trump did not respond to questions on retaliation against China.

Meanwhile, top American senators continued to press the administration that rules of engagement with China needs to change post-coronavirus.

“As we know, they unleashed this virus on America and the world with their classic communist cover-up, deception, continued propaganda campaign, costing now over 90,000 American lives, 35 million Americans losing their jobs so far,” Senator Martha McSally said during a Congressional hearing.

“We don’t know who patient zero is, they destroyed samples, they silenced doctors, they kicked out journalists, they impacted international travel to seed this and their reckless behaviour continues to be the root of all this,” she said.

As a result of coronavirus, the American economy has been thrown into recession; more than 36 million people have lost their job – the worst ever after last century’s great depression.

Many of the US states have now started opening up, after taking necessary precautions.

By conservative estimates, it will take several quarters for the economy to be back on track.

Trump in the last a few weeks has exuded confidence that the economy will be back on track next year.

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April 9,2020

Washington, Apr 9: At least 11 Indians have died of COVID-19 in the United States with another 16 testing positive for the infection which has claimed more than 14,000 lives and afflicted more than four lakh people in the US.

All Indian citizens who have succumbed to the deadly infection in the US are male, with ten of them from New York and New Jersey area. Four of the victims are said to be taxi drivers in New York City.

New York City has emerged as the US epicentre for COVID-19 spurt, accounting for more than 6,000 deaths and over 1,38,000 cases of infections. New Jersey accounts for 1,500 fatalities and nearly 48,000 infections.

One Indian national reportedly died in Florida because of coronavirus. Authorities are also ascertaining the nationality of some other Indian origin people in the States of California and Texas.

All 16 Indians, including four females, who have tested positive for coronavirus are in self-quarantine. Coming from diverse background, eight of them are from New York, three from New Jersey and rest from other states like Texas and California. They hail from Indian states like Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

Indian Embassy and consulates across the United States are working closely with local authorities and Indian-American organizations to provide necessary assistance to Indian nationals and students affected with COVID-19.

Because of the strict travel restrictions and regulations to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, local city officials have been performing the last rites of the deceased and in many cases are not allowing even their immediate family members to attend their cremations, officials said.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Madrid, Apr 4: Spain recorded a second successive daily drop in coronavirus-related deaths with 809 fatalities, official figures showed Saturday.

The total number of deaths in Spain now stands at 11,744, second only to Italy. A record 950 people died on Thursday.

The number of new cases also slowed at 7,026, taking the total to 124,736.

Recoveries over the last 24 hours stood at 3,706, taking that total to 34,219.

The Madrid region was the worst affected accounting for 40 percent of the deaths, 4,723, and 29 percent of the cases at 36,249. The northeastern region of Catalonia was in second place with 2,508 deaths.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is due to decide whether to prolong the emergency measures and confinement declared on March 14 for another two weeks in order to get on top of the outbreak.

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