Minister says france doesn’t want Mittal

Nov 27, 2012 |

The showdown between global steel giant ArcelorMittal and France over its Florange plant hit new heights on Monday as a minister said the company was no longer welcome in the country.

A source close to the matter said company chief Lakshmi Mittal was to meet President Francois Hollande Tuesday ahead of a deadline Saturday for France to find a buyer for two shuttered blast furnaces at the site in northeast of the country.
France says it has two offers, but only for the entire site, and Mr Mittal has refused to sell the full operation.
French industrial renewal minister Arnaud Montebourg has raised the spectre of a temporary nationalisation of the plant, prompting Mr Mittal to warn that would threaten its activities in France, where it employs 20,000 people.
Mr Montebourg upped the stakes today, saying France did not want ArcelorMittal in the country anymore and is looking for an industrial partner to take over the group’s operations at the plant.
“We do not want Mittal in France any longer because they do not respect France,” Mr Montebourg told the French financial daily Les Echos.

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