The mobilization is not weakening in Lardin-Saint-Lazare, this small Perigord town where the paper manufacturer Lecta intends to cut 187 out of 432 jobs in its factory by closing one in two production lines. Fearing that the social plan foreshadows the closure of this century-old site, which is, including its subcontractors, the first private employer in Dordogne, local elected officials are urging the State to act. “The President of the Republic says he wants to reindustrialize. But existing sites must already not close. Since the situation has not changed for several weeks, we are asking the State for a temporary nationalization of Papeteries de Condat so that a buyer can be found for this site which has a future,” said Francine Bourra, mayor of Lardin- Saint-Lazare (Dordogne), and Dominique Bousquet, president of the community of communes of Terrassonnais Haut Périgord noir.
This avenue had already been mentioned by Alain Rousset, president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, estimating, at the beginning of September to Le Figaro, “that this site would perhaps deserve a new owner, capable of investing more than 140 million euros. Publishers need coated paper. The request for temporary nationalization, addressed Wednesday to the prefect of Dordogne Jean-Sébastien Lamontagne, will be detailed by local elected officials during a press conference organized with employees this Thursday at the end of the day. The prefect, for his part, plans to bring together the protagonists on Friday at the beginning of the afternoon.
“However, the subject of this meeting is economic revitalization to recreate employment in our territory. We think that we must first try to avoid job cuts and fight now, while the discussions on the PSE must end on October 11,” supports Francine Bourra. “The Secafi firm (mandated by the CSE, editor’s note) estimates that the coated paper activity (used for books, business cards or even brochures, editor’s note) is carried out by machine 4, which has been shut down since the end February, is viable and that this site has a future, but that Lecta cannot guarantee it. A potential buyer has already come forward to contact us,” adds Dominique Bousquet, without revealing the latter’s name.
To date, Lecta is, officially, not a seller of its site, which has accumulated nearly one hundred million euros in losses in ten years. The fourth European paper maker – 3,000 employees, seven factories and a turnover of 1.5 billion euros – on the contrary underlines the efforts made over three years to modify both Condat’s second production line, now producing labels, and especially to modernize the site. Supported by the region through a loan of 19 million euros and by the State through a subsidy of 14 million euros, the industrialist – owned by the Anglo-Saxon investment funds Cheyne Capital and Apollo, as well as that the French Tikehau – is notably building a biomass boiler to decarbonize steam production.
“We of course regret that Lecta has decided to reduce activity on its French site rather than in Spain or Italy. We are in regular contact with employees so that negotiations on the PSE go as smoothly as possible. We also communicate regularly with management and will ensure that the promised investments, for which full funding has not yet been paid, are made so that this site can become competitive again, maintain itself and ultimately redevelop itself. we explain to the Ministry of Industry.
The hypothesis of nationalization, even temporary, does not seem to be considered by the government. It must be said that such a measure was only recently taken for Chantiers de l’Atlantique, which notably produces military boats, and motivated by the need to protect sovereignty. This same reason cannot be mentioned for Condat, “even if this site is the last to produce coated paper in France, Condat is a recognized brand. Nobody questions the fact that demand is in sharp decline due to the development of digital technology and for environmental reasons,” adds this same source. The coated paper market is expected to fall by 40% this year, raising fears of a continuation of the overcapacity situation despite the reduction in production rates achieved by all European paper manufacturers. On the continent, supply has already increased from 10.2 million tonnes in 2007 to 4.6 million in 2022, but for a demand of only 2.9 million tonnes according to Eurograph.
