Time is running out. When questioned by MPs during this week’s Question Time, the French Minister for Industry, Sébastien Martin, expressed his regret at the absence of “an industrial investor” in the sole bid to take over Fibre Excellence (FE). This bid is being led by the current management team, headed by Jean-François Guillot. In a Press Release received this Friday, June 12, and which we are publishing in full, FE outlines its perspective on the situation. The Toulouse Commercial Court is scheduled to rule on the site’s future on June 17.
“This week, the Fibre Excellence management team sent a letter to the Government detailing its proposals to save the group and the French pulp industry, and in particular the support it needs in return to pursue the takeover bid it submitted on June 1. The French management team committed to taking over the group is composed of recognized industrial experts, primarily French, all with extensive experience in the forestry, wood, and pulp sector. In addition to the Occitanie and Sud regions, they will rely on investors willing to commit to not abandoning an industry as vital to France as pulp, which currently has a trade deficit of €1 billion and risks becoming entirely dependent on imports in the future. The proposed industrial project is robust and grounded in economic reality. Its objective is to secure the fundamentals of combined pulp and electricity production in order to subsequently diversify and strengthen its position in France and Europe. The offer is currently the only one filed with the court and is contingent upon commitments from the French government regarding measures to restore profitability and industrial competitiveness in France. Massive support for the use of wood for purely energy purposes (€1.3 billion Heat Fund 2020-2024) has notably contributed to weakening industrial competitiveness by creating significant tensions in the French wood market. This has led to a redirection of industrial wood flows towards energy production and a 50% increase in wood prices between the end of 2021 and 2025 (compared to cumulative inflation of less than 16%). Therefore, FE’s management has proposed concrete solutions to the Government for rebalancing the electricity buyback tariff, which is indexed to actual production costs, so that its support for national electrification becomes a driver of competitiveness rather than a hindrance to industrial sites. A framework agreement has also been proposed to secure public wood supplies from the National Forestry Office (ONF), respecting the prioritization of wood uses and the European RED 3 directive, which France should have already transposed into French law a year ago.
The bidders are hoping for a response from the French government before the June 17th hearing at the Toulouse Commercial Court, which will decide whether to extend the observation period or liquidate the group.
The Fibre Excellence management team wishes to thank the Occitanie and Sud regions, as well as its employees and unions, for their unwavering support throughout this difficult period. They hope for a swift decision from the Government that will allow them to restart operations and then resume planning for industrial diversification projects that will sustainably strengthen the added value created in France. The question now is whether to decide on the survival of a French industrial sector, essential to national sovereignty.”
V. L.
Photo/Fibre Excellence
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