Should we save the foundries in France?

The foundries of Brittany are in the news, such as the "Aveyron Society of Metallurgy" (SAM).More generally, it is the foundries of France that are threatened.But why ?

Most of these foundries come from a history of small regional workshops.Often attached to a local mine (coal, iron ores, etc..) these forges as they were used in the past have gradually disappeared.Now there are more in France than 380 establishments that employ 29,000 employees.About half works for the automotive sector by producing engine blocks, exhaust collectors, carts, suspension elements, brake discs, etc..Cast iron, aluminum, etc..The products are diverse.

50 million euros of aid for foundries

The point almost common to all these establishments is having been for years the property of a manufacturer, or of having had as main customer this automaker.From now on, these same manufacturers turn to foreign factories where the workforce costs less and where certain environmental standards can be more flexible.

The foundries of Brittany (FDB) formerly Breton Foundry and Mechanical Society (SBFM) is a bit like the typical example.Created in 1966 by the Renault Régie, in Caudan near Lorient, FDB had its owner as the main customer, Renault until the late 90s.Renault represented more than 70% of orders and the foundry turned well.

Renault sold in 1998 the foundry to the Italian Teskid which sold it in 2006 to another Italian: Zen.But the superb is gone and the foundry is already in great difficulty.It must be said that the Zen group which has made a specialty to buy the moribund foundries can no longer take the course.SBFM is not the only one since all the France groups in the Zen group are affected with more than 2,200 employees in total by counting Rencast, Fabris or others.

Renault is looking for a buyer, 12 years after buying FDB

The former owner and still a main customer, Renault, bought the foundry in 2009 after a drastic departure plan.Of more than 600 employees are around 400 employees of what must now be called the Brittany Foundry.Already last year, we lent to Renault the intention to close FDB.After a first union movement, the activity left.

But, in early March 2021, Renault announced to the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) that he was looking for a buyer for the foundry.And who says buyer often says partial resumption of employees and the 350 employees tremble.Since then, movements animate the life of the factory with in recent days the "sequestration" of certain members of the factory management.Employee unions want Renault to keep the foundry.

"They went out at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.They still do not want to discuss so there is no point in persistent to want to speak with people who do not want to, "Maël Le Goff, secretary general CGT of the factory, told AFP, whoemploys 350 people.

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What are the problems of the foundries in France?

According to the calculations of the Foundry Forge Federation, "the cost of labor is eight times lower in Turkey, three times less in Portugal".And manufacturers no longer hesitate to buy abroad.The industrial "patriotism" which could have been the immediate post-war period in the 80s is finished.

Then these foundries produce pieces that can see their request collapse overnight.This is the case, for example, parts specific to diesel engines as in Caudan in Morbihan, but also other cast iron parts.Indeed, the cast iron weighs heavy and the forced march to the electric vehicle requires changes in brutal productions.Fonte still weighs 20% of the foundry market.

Last Monday, the government gathered a strategic advice on the automotive sector.The key, the announcement of an aid of 50 million euros for the retraining of the employees of the foundries.This obviously does not please those who work in these establishments.

Should we save the French automotive industry?

Because yes, the aid is not to save jobs and the foundry sector in France.Help would be used to help employees retrain.Yes, but what?And above all, should we not look at how to relocate productions as the unions ask?

Automotive production in France has dropped drastically for years.The splendid years of French production was the beginning of the 2000s with more than 3 million vehicles produced on our soil.The soufflé fell quickly to 2.5 million before gradually retreating with the rise of the Peco (country of the Eastern Bloc and Ex-USSR).

In 2020 it was even worse than everything with practically hexagonal production divided by two.The COVVI-19 pandemic does not explain everything because it has been a lot of productions for years have been relocated to Spain, Turkey, Estonia, Morocco, etc..

The question then arises whether we want to save automotive production "made in France", or if it is advisable to forget it and train the workers of this industry towards something else.The automotive industry, like other heavy industries (the automobile is straddling between heavy industry and industry for NDLA production) was a long -term reservoir that the French State and the industrialists decided to dropand to relocate.

Tracks to save jobs?

We have long promised to go from a country of blue passes to a country of white collars.But, we must admit that this mirage has dissipated.Other neighboring countries have chosen to support the sector, even if it means "subsidizing" it to maintain workers' jobs.Providing financial assistance to a factory allows you to keep direct and indirect jobs, and reports more than it costs.

The foundry is the latest example of a French industry which is disintegrated in a frantic price race to maintain or increase the margins.We can cite the steel industry, mines, shipyards, as well as others who join this list of sectors in the past larger than the future in France.

However, some economists believe that putting an international carbon price could change the situation.Indeed, which says high (and international) carbon price says higher transport cost.Thus, a more local production, and therefore less taxed on carbon due to transport, would de facto colors.

Other industries in the car sector would then be affected as tires (Michelin La Roche-sur-Yon, etc..) speed boxes, or different parts for engine (thermal or electric).

Bringing international transportation very dearly

The counterpart to all this is a price of manufactured goods which is added to those produced for example in Asia and then imported by boat or train.This carbon price is also requested by those who advocate a so -called ecological transition.French President Emmanuel Macron said this Thursday (Reuters): "(...) If we do not give a carbon price, there is no possible transition.We must therefore integrate the environmental dimension into the cost of investments, in our regional markets, in our commercial relations "at a virtual climate summit organized by the United States.

The concern is that a huge part of the world economy is based on the transport of goods, raw materials, etc..And this is one of the brakes on setting up taxes on transport.Here, repainted in green by speaking of the climate and CO2, it could collect more memberships.

For the moment, we sell the foundries, heirs of the forges.In 1936, at the Forges of Hennebont / Forges de Lochrist (1860-1966), more than 3000 employees turned the store.In 1966 there were still 1,300 during the bankruptcy, and much less when Renault decided to modernize the forges to transform them into a foundry, on the new Caudan site.

Illustration: Renault, La Fonderie de Bretagne